Dot.Com to Dot.Bomb and Beyond

Incredible Plant Growth - Nanobubble Technology

2011-12-14T15:05:00.002-05:00

Have you ever wondered why your plants look so healthy after it rains?

Leafy plants use oxygen to absorb vital nutrients from the soil around their roots. Raindrops gather oxygen as they fall through the air, and the highly oxygenated water helps the plants extract nutrients more efficiently. That’s why plants look so healthy and robust after a good rain. Pure Rain™ products add millions of microscopic nanobubbles — each just a fraction of the width of a human hair — to ordinary tap water. The extra oxygen delivered by the nano-bubbles helps your plants absorb nutrients faster than ever, making them healthier, stronger, and more disease-resistant. By simply attaching them to your garden hose and watering regularly, Pure Rain™ products can increase leafy plant growth by up to 30%. They can even decrease your water usage because of the high levels of oxygen added.Think about how your plants would feel if they had regular, invigorating showers that gave the same benefits as all-natural rain water. They’d love you for it.

Best of all, Pure Rain™ does all this without any chemicals — just the way nature intended.

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Square, Inc. Square Credit Card Reader

2011-03-29T08:56:00.003-04:00

Square is the simplest way to accept credit cards. It’s easy to use and comes with a free credit card reader for your phone or iPad. Sign-up is quick. No complicated contracts, monthly fees, or merchant account. When you swipe cards with Square there is just one fee: 2.75%. Download the free app from the Android Market or iTunes App Store. Square is currently available in the U.S.

Why Sina might be bought out

2011-03-28T22:43:00.002-04:00

Great article by Eric Jackson of The Street

Sina SINA-Q would be an attractive buy-out candidate.

In 18 months, it has created from scratch a Twitter-like service called Sina Weibo that – as of last month – surpassed 100 million users. That's something that took Twitter twice the amount of time.

To call Weibo a Twitter clone does it a disservice. It's actually much more functional than Twitter with a superior Apple iPhone application, commenting and forwarding system, along with instant messaging and location-based services. It is more of a combination of Twitter and Facebook that a pure copycat of Twitter.

Since the start of last July, Sina's stock is up 146 per cent, and its market capitalization stands at more than $5-billion (U.S.). Remember that it was worth $2-billion when it was just known for its traditional advertising-supported portal business (which has also been on fire since last summer – just ask its competitors Sohu SOHU-Q and NetEase.com NTES-Q. Sina also has almost $1-billion in cash.

Keep in mind that, since July 1, Sohu's stock has increased almost 100 per cent on its own – just on its ad-supported business. Although it has a Twitter-like microblogging service, it is far less popular than Sina's.

Therefore, even though Sina has seen its stock price soar since July, it is reasonable to argue that the “extra” value created in market capitalization for Sina relative to Sohu directly attributable to Weibo is only an extra $1.1-billion.

Yet, Weibo is a powerful platform to drive future growth for the company. We all understand this intuitively when we think about Facebook and Twitter. Twitter was recently valued in a secondary market stock sale (which has surprisingly turned out to be very accurate indicators of actual values later awarded by private sophisticated investors) at $7.7-billion. Yet, Twitter's revenues were reportedly only $45-million last year . Twitter is supposed to have 160 million users at the moment. Sina Weibo might surpass them in users by September.

Facebook was recently valued by General Atlantic Partners at $65-billion. Its revenues were $1.2-billion to $2-billion in 2010. Facebook now has 500 million users worldwide.

Sina Weibo hasn't started monetizing itself yet. The user experience is now free of ads for the most part. During last week's earnings call, CEO Charles Chao said that they didn't expect to start monetizing the service until the second half of 2011 and, even then, he said they wouldn't do much.

His strategy for building the platform first and monetizing later is completely out of the same playbook that Facebook and Twitter have followed, which has directly led to their current sky-high valuations.

Yet, some of the Sina analysts seem to be clueless about why such a strategy makes sense. Goldman Sachs' Hong Kong-based analysts downgraded Sina prior to last week's earnings call and put an $85 target on the stock. They said the stock had gotten ahead of itself based on its recent run-up.

Yet, it was the New York-based private banking arm of Goldman that recently valued Facebook at $50-billion and had to turn away its own clients who wanted to invest more than $2-billion of their own money into the social networking company – despite the modest revenue – because of how valuable they believe that platform to be in the future. I guess the Hong Kong analysts weren't CC'ed on that internal firm memo.

I don't get the logic that sees Weibo is overvalued because it added $1-billion to Sina's market capitalization, given the speed with which it has grown in China.

You can look within China to see that the most valuable Internet company, Tencent, which is only listed in Hong Kong (or on the US pink sheets as ticker TCEHY), followed the same strategy as Sina. Tencent rode the popularity of its instant messaging service QQ to a market capitalization north of $50-billion, bigger than Baidu BIDU-Q.

Sina Weibo is attracting a more urban, more affluent user than Tencent's QQ. However, Weibo is certainly the shiny new thing in the Chinese Internet world compared to QQ. It is unquestionably a threat competitively over the next three to five years, although Tencent has its own microblogging service.

So, if you were Tencent with a $50-billion market capitalization, why wouldn't you be looking at Sina as a potential acquisition target to remove that competitive threat. Even if you had to pay $10-billion for the company, it would protect your competitive lead and you would be able to ride the growth of Weibo in the coming years instead of Sina.

But if Tencent is thinking along those lines, so should Baidu and Alibaba (which is 40 per cent owned by Yahoo YHOO-Q. They would each rather have Weibo rather than Tencent. There have been rumours for the last few months that Sina will spin off Weibo as a separate company soon. If and when it does, both Baidu and Alibaba have been mentioned as possible $100-million investors each into that new business. They obviously see a value in the business and would rather they be closer to it than Tencent.

Sina's CEO has already talked about how he wants to link Weibo updates to search results this year, which would play into Baidu's strength. Alibaba could use the Weibo platform eventually both to advertise specific deals from Taobao.com as well link in its Alipay transaction service. Remember than Tenpay is Tencent's competitive offering to Alipay, which currently is No. 2 in market share for payments in China behind Alipay.

We haven't even mentioned the U.S. Internet companies yet. Of course, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg flew to Beijing in December to meet with Charles Chao. But any other American Internet company including GoogleGOOG-Q, eBay EBAY-Q, Amazon AMZN-Q or even Yahoo would be attracted to the idea of investing in Weibo's future. It's hard to see one of the Americans being allowed to purchase the company outright but an investment would work.

This brings us to what is somewhat unique about Sina in the Chinese Internet world. Unlike Tencent, Baidu, or Shanda Interactive, Sina is not led by one dominant founder CEO who still controls a chunk of the company himself.

Sina used to actually be based in Sunnyvale, CA, back in the dot-com days and has gone through countless financings. The original founders have long since left the company. Charles Chao, the current CEO (who I think is doing all the right things in growing out the business) reportedly only owns less than 2 per cent of the company .

What that means is that Sina is more vulnerable to a takeover than one of the companies with a founder CEO. Obviously Chao sees the long-term opportunity with Weibo is to grow Sina to be just as big if not bigger than Tencent. That would be 10 times the current size. He would like to see his stake grow by that much too.

Yet, if a large offer was made for his company today, his vote would not really matter. It would be something that could be presented to the shareholders for a vote. They might decide that $10-billion now is better than the chance at becoming a $50-billion company in three years.

I continue to believe that Sina is woefully undervalued given the rapid growth of Weibo in 2010. Its platform is worth much more than the implied $1-billion in Sina's stock today.

Eric Jackson is a senior contributor to TheStreet.com. He is founder and president of Ironfire Capital and the general partner and investment manager of Ironfire Capital US Fund LP and Ironfire Capital International Fund, Ltd.

Back to School with Smart Technologies

2010-08-23T15:25:00.005-04:00

SMART Technologies Inc., the global leader in interactive whiteboards, develops easy-to-use integrated products and services that improve the way the world works and learns.

The company introduced the first interactive electronic whiteboard in 1991 and says that it remains the industry leader. It has shipped more than 1.6 million of its SMART Board interactive whiteboards to over 100 countries worldwide since the product was introduced.

The company says its products “combine the simplicity of a whiteboard and the power of a computer. By touching the surface of a SMART Board interactive whiteboard, the user can control computer applications, access the Internet, write in digital ink and save and share work.”

Smart Technologies Inc., raised $660 million in the second-biggest initial public offering in the U.S. this year.

The Calgary-based company priced 38.8 million Class A shares at $17 each after offering 35.3 million for $16 to $18, according to a statement and a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Smart Technologies will receive 23 percent of proceeds. Selling shareholders including Intel Corp. and Apax Partners will get the rest, reaping a more than sixfold gain on average, the statement and filing show.

Smart Technologies’ initial sale, the biggest by a Canadian technology company in at least a decade opened today at $12.52. Nancy Knowlton, President and CEO of SMART. "We benefited from healthy year-over-year demand across all our geographic regions, particularly in North America. Our hardware and software solution continues to resonate with teachers and administrators, as they recognize the value of having the integrated SMART solution in the classroom." With awareness of the product building the timing may be perfect as we enter into the "back to school" period. Having opened at $18.00 and reached a low of $11.39 it's no doubt a good time to BUY SMART.

Search Market in China is only 10% of the United States, The Baidu story is only just beginning.

2010-08-22T17:26:00.004-04:00

Clayton Reeves believes Baidu (BIDU) is a stock to buy now or regret later.

Their presence in the largest internet user community in the world will enable them to create incredible returns for their shareholders. Right now, the search market in China is only 10% of the United States, but in five years the picture will be different.

He believes the shares have been kept low because analysts are questioning the business model that these search companies currently use. However, Google has been plenty successful using that strategy to gain a stranglehold on the world search market and a brand that has enabled them to branch into operating systems and browsers.

Baidu could be the same such beast for the billions of Chinese residents that will access the internet in the next decade.

Baidu is also working on features to seize the key battlegrounds such as the evolving 3G mobile data market, music and video and ‘massive multi-user games’ or MMGs, where some rivals are already threatening to steal a march.

"We want to become a legendary company and the future is all ahead of us,"Jennifer Li, (chief financial officer of Baidi.com) says. "The Baidu story is only just beginning."

Google TV vs Apple TV

2010-05-20T16:56:00.005-04:00

Google TV - Google is putting its Android software and Chrome Web browser on television and other home entertainment devices in an attempt to succeed where others have struggled: in merging television and the Internet.

Google TV will be available on television sets, Blu-ray players and companion set-top boxes through partnerships with Intel Corp. and Sony Corp. Special “input devices” will include a keyboard and remote-control-type pointing device.

The Internet giant, which is looking to expand beyond its lucrative online advertising business, is betting that more consumers will want to buy televisions that can connect to the Internet. ABI Research Inc. says demand for such sets is rising with the popularity of Internet content and estimates that 46% of flat-panel televisions will have Internet connections by 2013, up from 19% this year.

But analysts say Google will have to succeed where many, including Apple Inc., have tried and struggled. Apple TV, launched in 2007, is a set-top box that displays content from the Internet and iTunes on televisions. Apple has called it a "hobby," saying the number of units sold are "still small."

Google dominates the $60.4-billion online advertising market but has yet to make inroads in other mass media. It has broadened its reach into smart-phones through its Android mobile operating system. There it's surpassed Apple as the top operating system on U.S. smart-phones.

Apple TV - Apple TV is a network device that allows consumers to use an HDTV set to view photos, play music and watch video that originates from an Internet media service or a local network. Internet media services include the iTunes Store, YouTube, Flickr, or MobileMe.

By connecting directly to the iTunes Store, users can buy and rent movies, buy television shows, songs, albums, and music videos and subscribe to video and audio podcasts—much of the content in high definition. Consumers can browse and view YouTube videos and Flickr or MobileMe photo albums.

Apple TV can also sync or stream photo, music and video content from a network-connected computer running iTunes. Apple TV includes enhanced remote control and AirTunes capabilities.

Apple plans to continue offering new features through automatic software upgrades, leaving the door open to further utilization of its hardware capabilities and new software developments.

Salesforce.com and VMware Form Strategic Alliance to Launch VMforce™, the World’s First Enterprise Java Cloud

2010-05-06T17:49:00.000-04:00

VMforce will provide the trusted, open path to the cloud for 6 million enterprise Java developers, including the 2 million member Spring community
VMforce will enable Java developers to instantly tap into Force.com platform services, including the Force.com database, Chatter collaboration, workflow, analytics and search
VMforce will include new VMware vCloud technology that dramatically simplifies the management and orchestration of applications on VMware vSphere™ based infrastructure
Part of the industry-leading Force.com cloud platform, VMforce will enable Java developers to quickly and easily build next-generation enterprise Cloud 2 apps that are instantly social, mobile, and collaborative

SAN FRANCISCO, April 27, 2010 -- Salesforce.com, [NYSE: CRM] the enterprise cloud computing company and VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in cloud infrastructure, today announced a partnership to jointly deliver, sell and support a new enterprise Java cloud called VMforce™. To be announced at an event today in San Francisco hosted by the Chief Executive Officers of the two companies, VMforce will bring together the technologies, expertise and communities of the two leading cloud computing companies driving the tectonic shifts in the information technology industry.

With VMforce, the more than 6 million enterprise Java developers, including the over 2 million developers using the Spring framework backed by the SpringSource division of VMware, will have an open path to cloud computing. Now, CIOs and IT departments will be able to leverage their existing programming skills and investments in Java applications, and take full advantage of the industry-leading Force.com platform to build Cloud 2 enterprise applications that are social and work on any mobile device in real-time. VMforce will dramatically simplify how enterprises and enterprise Java developers can harness the economics of cloud computing without compromising the flexibility, control and choice they require.

“Enterprise Java developers, welcome to Cloud 2," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. "This fundamental shift incorporates cloud computing, real-time collaboration and mobile devices like the iPad to meet the new needs of the enterprise. Now, in partnership with VMware, we are delivering VMforce and bringing Java to Force.com so enterprise Java developers can create powerful new innovative Cloud 2 apps."

“Companies are looking for solutions that deliver the benefits of cloud computing while leveraging existing resources, expertise and infrastructure,” said Paul Maritz, president and CEO of VMware. “By creating a dramatically simplified solution for modern application development, VMforce is a significant step forward in offering our customers a path that bridges existing internal investments with the resources and flexibility of the cloud.”

VMforce is designed to deliver the first enterprise Java cloud that is:

Trusted: Running on salesforce.com’s trusted global infrastructure, VMforce will inherit the benefits of a service delivery infrastructure that has received some of the most stringent security industry accreditations including ISO 27001, SysTrust and SAS70 Type II. Thousands of the largest companies worldwide are already working with VMware and salesforce.com. Now, with VMforce they can leverage the combined strength of both companies to take their mission critical enterprise apps to the cloud.
Open: VMforce will support standard Java code: plain old Java objects (POJOs), Java Server Pages (JSPs), Java Servlets, and more through the popular Spring Framework. By building enterprise Java apps with Spring, companies will be able to easily port enterprise Java apps onto VMforce or vice versa.
Elastic: With VMforce, applications can scale automatically. VMforce customers will not have to worry about scaling up app servers, databases or infrastructure to meet performance demand. VMforce can handle scalability automatically, as a service.
Complete: VMforce will provide a comprehensive solution for enterprise Java development in the cloud, including the trusted global infrastructure, virtualization platform, orchestration and management technology, relational cloud database, development platform and collaboration services, application run time, development framework, tooling and more.
Cloud 2: Cloud 2 combines next generation mobility, social collaboration and real-time information access, creating new levels of productivity and taking enterprise cloud computing the next level.

VMforce™: The Trusted Cloud for Enterprise Java Developers

VMforce will be the first mission critical deployment environment for enterprise Java apps in the cloud. VMforce will be jointly delivered by salesforce.com and VMware, combining the world's most popular language, Java, the world's most popular Java framework, Spring, the leading virtualization platform, VMware vSphere™, and running on the world's most trusted cloud platform, Force.com. VMforce will be designed to include:

Spring Framework: VMforce will use the Spring Framework, the leading Java development framework which is backed by VMware’s SpringSource division. Spring makes it easy for developers to build powerful enterprise Java apps, increasing development productivity and runtime performance while improving test coverage and application quality. VMforce will also use the SpringSource Tool Suite, an integrated, tested and certified development environment offering the most complete set of Eclipse-based tools for creating Java apps.
SpringSource tc server: VMforce applications will run on the tc Server® runtime, the Enterprise version of Apache Tomcat. tc Server is a wildly popular lightweight application server optimized for virtual and cloud environments.
Force.com Chatter Services: As the world migrates towards Cloud 2 social and mobile applications, developers will be able incorporate collaboration services from Chatter in their applications. These pre-built services include profiles, status updates, groups, feeds, document sharing, the Chatter API and more.
Force.com Development Platform and Services: Since VMforce will run on the Force.com platform, developers have access to pre-built business services that can be configured into their apps without requiring any custom coding. These services include search, identity and security, workflow, reporting and analytics, a robust web services integration API, mobile deployment, and more.
Force.com Database: Developers using VMforce will get the benefits of the proven Force.com relational database, including automatic scalability, high availability, auto-tuning, back up and disaster recovery.
VMware vCloud technology: VMware’s vCloud technology automatically manages the software stack that powers VMforce applications, freeing developers from the cost and complexity of managing hardware and software. VMware’s vCloud technology will onramp the Java application onto the cloud, automate the wiring of the application to the Force.com database, and manage the underlying vSphere virtualization platform.
VMware vSphere™: The industry leading virtualization platform provides the building blocks for VMforce by providing the resource isolation, management, and virtualization for the Java applications.
Force.com Cloud Infrastructure: VMforce will run on salesforce.com’s trusted global cloud computing infrastructure, which handles an average of 250 million transactions daily from more than 72,500 customers for their most important business applications and their most sensitive data.

Pricing and Availability
VMforce is currently scheduled to be available in developer preview in 2010 and pricing will be announced at that time.

Additional Resources:

For more information about VMforce, please visit http://www.vmforce.com
Follow @salesforce and @VMware on Twitter, and join the conversation with #VMforce
A live web cast of the VMforce event today will begin at approximately 10:30 am PT. Please visit www.vmforce.comto watch.
Blog posts from salesforce.com’s Parker Harris and Peter Coffee can be found at http://cloudblog.salesforce.com/.
Blog post from salesforce.com’s Anshu Sharma can be found at http://developer.force.com.
Blog post from VMware’s Steve Herrod can be found at: http://blogs.vmware.com/console/2010/04/vmforce-and-vmwares-open-paas-strategy.html
Blog post from VMware’s Rod Johnson can be found at: http://blog.springsource.com/2010/04/27/vmforce-spring-cloud/

About salesforce.com
Salesforce.com is the enterprise cloud computing company. Based on salesforce.com’s real-time, multitenant architecture, the company’s platform and CRM applications (http://www.salesforce.com/crm) have revolutionized the way companies collaborate and communicate with their customers, including:

The Sales Cloud, for sales force automation and contact management
The Service Cloud, for customer service and support solutions
Chatter, for social collaboration
The Force.com platform, for custom application development
The AppExchange, the world’s leading marketplace for enterprise cloud computing applications

Salesforce.com offers the fastest path to customer success with cloud computing. As of January 31, 2010, salesforce.com manages customer information for approximately 72,500 customers including Allianz Commercial, Dell, Japan Post, Kaiser Permanente, KONE, and SunTrust Banks.

Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase salesforce.com applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce.com has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM.” For more information please visit http://www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.

Copyright (c) 2010 salesforce.com, inc. All rights reserved. Salesforce and the "no software" logo are registered trademarks of salesforce.com, inc., and salesforce.com owns other registered and unregistered trademarks. Other names used herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

About VMware
VMware delivers solutions for business infrastructure virtualization that enable IT organizations to energize businesses of all sizes. With the industry leading virtualization platform – VMware vSphere™ – customers rely on VMware to reduce capital and operating expenses, improve agility, ensure business continuity, strengthen security and go green. With 2009 revenues of $2 billion, more than 170,000 customers and 25,000 partners, VMware is the leader in virtualization which consistently ranks as a top priority among CIOs. VMware is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.

VMware, VMware vSphere, SpringSource and VMware vCloud are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. The use of the word “partner” or “partnership” does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in this press release which are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements and are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate, but are not limited, to, VMforce availability and features and customer deployments. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) changes in macroeconomic conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (iii) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors into the cloud-computing market, and new product and marketing initiatives by competitors; (iv) customers’ ability to develop, and to transition to, new products, (v) the uncertainty of customer acceptance of emerging technology initiatives; (vi) rapid technological and market changes in cloud computing; (vii) changes to product development timelines; (viii) the ability to protect intellectual property rights; (ix) successful integration of VMware and Salesforce technologies and go-to-market deployments; and (x) the ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees. These forward looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value and effect as well as other risks detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including VMware and salesforce.com periodic reports on Form 10-Q and Form 10-K and current reports on Form 8-K, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. VMware and salesforce.com disclaim any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

Clearwire Reports Strong First Quarter 2010 Results

2010-05-06T17:11:00.001-04:00

Total Ending Subscribers of 971,000, Up 94% Year Over Year
Total Net Subscriber Additions of 283,000 - Greater than Full Year 2009
Wholesale Subscriber Base Triples During the First Quarter 2010
First Quarter Revenue of $107 Million - Up 72% Year Over Year
Company Surpasses 50 million People Covered By Its Networks
4G WiMAX Smartphones By Samsung and HTC Expected to be Available Before End of 2010

KIRKLAND, Wash., May 05, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR), a leading provider of wireless broadband services, today reported its unaudited condensed consolidated financial and operating results for the first quarter of 2010.

"Customer demand for 4G services is truly making 2010 the year of mobile broadband, as always-on true mobile broadband keeps people connected to the information, services and applications that matter most," said Bill Morrow, CEO of Clearwire. "With record breaking subscriber growth, a robust wholesale 'network of networks' approach to 4G, and customer usage that far surpasses anything seen on 3G networks today, Clearwire is standing at the forefront of the next evolution in telecommunications and technology."

Clearwire ended the first quarter with 971,000 total subscribers consisting of 814,000 retail subscribers and 157,000 wholesale subscribers. During the first quarter 2010 Clearwire added 283,000 net new subscriber additions including 172,000 retail additions and 111,000 wholesale additions. Greater than one-third of our wholesale subscribers consist of subscribers on dual mode devices that reside outside of our currently launched markets, but for whom we receive monthly recurring revenue.

Revenue for the first quarter 2010 was $106.7 million, a 72% increase over first quarter 2009 revenue of $62.1 million and a 33% increase over fourth quarter 2009 revenue of $79.9 million. Retail average revenue per subscriber (ARPU) was $42.77 in the first quarter 2010. Retail ARPU in the first quarter includes the positive impact of $1.22 related to a prior period adjustment to account for incentive discounts over the lives of customer contracts. Without this adjustment first quarter ARPU was $41.55.

Retail cost per gross subscriber addition (CPGA) improved to $439 in the first quarter 2010, down from $624 in the fourth quarter 2009. The decline in CPGA is largely a function of greater gross additions, better overall marketing efficiencies and fewer market launches.

Retail monthly churn also improved to 3.0% in the first quarter 2010 compared to 3.6% in fourth quarter 2009. During the first quarter, the Company completed the conversion of the Hawaii, Seattle and Carolina markets to its 4G network, and the subscriber churn rate in the non-conversion markets was 2.7%.

The first quarter 2010 net loss attributable to Clearwire was ($94.1) million, or ($0.47) per basic share, as compared with the fourth quarter 2009 net loss attributable to Clearwire of ($98.7) million, or ($0.55) per basic share. The first quarter 2009 net loss attributable to Clearwire was ($71.1) million or ($0.37) per basic share.

The first quarter 2010 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and non-cash expenses related to capital assets (adjusted EBITDA) loss was ($251.6) million, an improvement from fourth quarter 2009 adjusted EBITDA loss of ($295.7) million. The adjusted EBITDA loss for the first quarter 2009 was ($144.0) million.

2010 Business Outlook

Clearwire continues to expect to cover up to 120 million people with its 4G network by the end of 2010. Within this footprint, services will be offered under both the CLEAR(R) brand name, and those of the Company's strategic wholesale providers which will vary across individual markets.

The Company also continues to expect that total subscriber levels will triple in 2010 from the end of 2009 levels and that it will end 2010 with more than 2 million total subscribers. The Company expects average 2010 retail CPGA to be in the mid $500's and consistent with the average CPGA for 2009, while average retail ARPU is now expected to remain above $41.00 for 2010.

The timing and extent of our future plans are subject to a number of conditions, including the performance in our launched markets and access to additional funding. The Company currently expects to have full year 2010 net cash utilization between $2.8 billion and $3.2 billion.

In recent weeks, the Company has expanded its 4G mobile broadband network service area with five new markets covering nearly five million people, including Houston, TX in March, and earlier this week in Harrisburg, Reading, Lancaster and York, PA.

Clearwire also today announced plans to launch 4G mobile broadband service in 19 additional cities this summer, including previously announced markets Kansas City, KS; St. Louis, MO; Salt Lake City, UT, and the core area of Washington, D.C. and newly announced markets Nashville, TN; Daytona, Orlando and Tampa, FL; Rochester and Syracuse, NY; Merced, Modesto, Stockton, and Visalia, CA; Wilmington, DE; Grand Rapids, MI; Eugene, OR; and Yakima and Tri-Cities, WA.

In addition, the Company reiterated its plans to launch Clearwire's 4G network in other major markets across the country by the end of 2010, including New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Denver, Minneapolis, the San Francisco Bay Area, Miami, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

The Company also expects to launch two WiMAX smartphones by the end of 2010. From Samsung, an Android-based 3G/4G/WiFi device optimized for heavy video and video communications use, and a 3G/4G/WiFi enabled phone from HTC.

Other Results of Operations

Cost of goods and services and network costs for the first quarter, 2010 increased 96% to $144.6 million compared to $73.6 million for the first quarter 2009. This increase is due to increased tower lease and backhaul expenses resulting from the launch of 4G markets.

Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) expense for the first quarter 2010 increased 106% to $223.8 million compared to $108.5 million for the first quarter 2009. The increase is primarily due to higher sales and marketing and customer care expenses in support of the launch of new markets, as well as additional resources, headcount and shared services that we have utilized as we continue to build and launch our 4G markets. Employee headcount at March 31, 2010 increased to approximately 3,595 compared to 2,015 employees at March 31, 2009.

Higher network expansion activities led to an increase in Capital Expenditures (CapEx) to $690 million in the first quarter 2010 from CapEx of $112 million for the first quarter 2009. Net cash spending, including operating activities, capital expenditures and spectrum purchases; net of proceeds from financing activities, was $842 million. We ended the first quarter of 2010 with cash and investments of approximately $3.1 billion invested primarily in U.S. Treasury securities.

Webinar with Linchpin author Seth Godin

2010-04-05T10:35:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Steve Cunningham for this mornings webinar with Seth Godin. I now know what to do with my Lizard Brain and how to go forward. Key takeaways for me:

1. Society pushes average as it's easy to handle

2. Make all the important decisions at the beginning

3. Own your own space, Blog, Website, TV, new media

4. Become more generous, do more, create a gift

5. SHIP - make it go out the door.

FULL VIDEO SUMMARY OF LINCHPIN?

In preparation for our upcoming webinar with Seth Godin, we thought we would show you this exclusive summary previously only available to Read It For Me Pro subscribers. We thought that if you are going to watch the webinar, you should at least have a good sense of what the book is about. We hope you enjoy!

WATCH THE VIDEO!

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Chinese Opinion - Without Google? It is fine

2010-01-22T23:13:00.008-05:00

Google’s bombshell announcement to retreat from China puts the country’s Internet management system in the spotlight. In the west’s eyes, there is no network freedom in China and Chinese netizens are kept silent out of fear, the truth might be another story.

The Internet world is characterized by opening and anarchy. To maintaining a healthy and stable Internet environment, China has its obligation to block any Internet contents relating to national security, pornography and violence.

Moreover, China is not the only one with the management of Internet. In US, after the 9/11 attacks, George. W. Bush enacted the The 2001 USA Patriot Act to censor the Internet and authorize the US government or law enforcing departments to block any on-line content that endangers national security and in Germany, laws also require all the Internet cafes to censor and block anything about racism, terrorism, violence and pornography.

So the Internet world is not absolutely free, but it can develop well by proper management. Under the government’s regulation, China’s Internet society and business are not refrained, but going into their prosperity.

The Chinese Internet society is expanding in terms of volume and power. Internet users hit 384 million by the end of 2009, according to report by China Internet Network Center (CNNIC). It has the largest population of Internet users.

Besides that, Chinese netizens are flexing their muscles. As more and more news is exposed and hyped by Internet instead of traditional media, the Internet has grown to be an independent source of news and a main channel for grass root netizens to express their opinion and participate in the public affairs. Netizen’s supervision has helped improve the governance and achieve judicial justice

It is still clearly remembered that netizens’ scrutiny of a traffic accident, in which a wealthy drag racer killed a pedestrian at a high speed in Hanzhou the capital city of Zhejiang province, forced the police to revise its original arbitrary investigation statement and finally got the driver into jail. The Internet is on its way to promote China to be a more open and democratic society.

China’s Internet industry also shows its energy. The economic scale of China’s Internet industry reached 74.3 billion yuan in 2009, increasing by 30.7% to 2008 and it is estimate to be more than 100 billion yuan in 2010, according to the report by iResearch, a professional organization specializing in in-depth studying of customer behavior in Internet media and e-commerce.

The Internet market is also full of opportunities. Quite a number of Chinese Internet enterprises grow to be a giant from scratch. China’s privately hold the Alibaba Group, has reached Internet users in more than 240 countries and regions and successfully purchased Yahoo.cn in 2005 and its subsidiary Alibaba.com is the global leader in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce. This has proved to world that Internet companies can succeed in China if they operate in the right way.

Baidu defeats Google in the Chinese market. Compared to Google, Baidu does a better job in the understanding of the local market, understanding of Chinese characters in Mandarin and the relations with advertisers.

China’s flourishing Internet industry and society demonstrates the country's Internet world develops well under its characteristic management. The market will continue its development in its own way, no matter whether there is Google.cn or not. It is unfair to China that the west puts their finger into China’s Internet regulation.

Source: China Daily

One number. Many ways to sell you stuff.

2010-01-22T20:39:00.003-05:00

Google Voice is what Fortune’s Apple 2.0 columnist Philip Elmer-DeWitt has called “the universal telephone number and voice mail system the telcos should have offered us years ago.”

Google Voice (formerly GrandCentral) is a telecommunications service by Google launched on 11 March 2009. The service provides a U.S. phone number, chosen by the user from available numbers in selected area codes, free of charge to each user account. Inbound calls to this number are forwarded to other phone numbers of the subscriber. Outbound calls may be placed to domestic and international destinations by dialing the Google Voice number or from a web-based application. Inbound and outbound calls to US (incl. Alaska and Hawaii) and Canada are free of charge, while international calls are billed according to a schedule posted on the Google Voice website.

The service is configured and maintained by the user in a web-based application, styled after Google's e-mail service, Gmail. Users must have an established U.S. telephone service to activate Google Voice. Users must configure this and optionally, additional phone numbers that ring simultaneously when the Google Voice number receives a call. The user may answer and receive the call on any of the ringing phones. Google Voice provides additional features such as voicemail, call history, conference calling, call screening, blocking of unwanted calls, and voice transcription to text of voicemail messages. Received calls may be moved between configured telephones during a call.

The next best thing to come out of Canada after the Blackberry?

2010-01-22T07:52:00.007-05:00

Smart Technologies a new star on the IPO horizon

Canada has a new technology star coming to public markets, with Calgary-based Smart Technologies reportedly preparing for an initial public offering that could value the company at as much as $2-billion (U.S.).

Smart has made its name as a maker of digital whiteboard technologies that have rapidly become popular in classrooms and boardrooms. The firm was quietly involved in one of the biggest tech deals of the last couple years in Canada when the founders sold a stake to private-equity firm Apax Partners, another deal that RBC advised on. Intel Capital and the founders are looking at an IPO of as much as 20 per cent of the company.

Google Stock Down, Earnings, Revenue, Clicks and Price Per Click All Up

2010-01-21T17:58:00.003-05:00

Google annouced its results for the 4th quarter beating analyst estimates.

Revenue rose 17% from a year ago on strong ad sales.

Revenue for the quarter ended December 31, excluding traffic acquisition costs, was $4.95 billion, slightly higher than the $4.92 billion analysts were expecting. Including those costs, Google posted total revenue of $6.67 billion.

Earnings were $2.19 billion, or $6.79 a share, higher than the analyst expectations of earnings per share of $6.50, and up from year-ago earnings of $1.62 billion, or $5.10 per share.

Traffic acquisition costs, the portion of revenue shared with Google’s partners, totaled $1.72 billion and represented 27 percent of ad revenue.

Paid clicks rose 13 percent from a year ago and the average cost per click increased 5 percent.

However despite the good news Google shares are down 5% to $554.21 in aftermarket trading.

New Google Nexus One vs iPhone

2010-01-07T11:26:00.000-05:00

CES 2010

2010-01-06T13:48:00.000-05:00

Nice One Google - Best Xmas Email

2009-12-22T09:02:00.002-05:00

I thought this was brilliant!

Happy Holidays from Google

Hello,

As we near the end of the year, we wanted to take a moment to thank you for the time, energy, commitment, and trust you've shared with us in 2009.

With sharing in mind, this year we've decided to do something a little different. We hope you'll find it fits the spirit of the holiday season.

We're looking forward to working with you to build lasting success in 2010.

Happy Holidays,

Your Google Team

Google Chrome OS Netbook 4G MVNO

2009-12-17T12:35:00.006-05:00

Could this be a good time to invest in Clearwire Communications (CLWR) they have entered into an agreement with Google to collaborate on a number of products and services. Clearwire Communications will also support the open-source Android platform and will work with Google to to offer certain other applications.

Major investors in Clearwire Communications are Sprint, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Intel and Google.

Read It For Me Steve

2009-08-27T14:44:00.010-04:00

Steve Cunningham produces great summary videos featuring the worlds business books. If you haven't the time to read them then watch the video; a feast of visual learning. I'm a fan I particularly liked the Seth Godin interview, perhaps when you take a look you will become one too.

Don't use your cellphone in Ontario this Fall

2009-04-27T09:38:00.006-04:00

Mobile tech retailers in Ontario are expecting a big boost in sales for hands-free products as the province's cellphone ban comes into effect.

On Tuesday, Queen's Park passed Bill 118, banning people from using hand-held devices while driving -- but the law won't be enforced until at least this fall.

The latest "must have" is the popular Jawbone bluetooth headset which is getting an update. The new Jawbone PRIME model, which is designed to offer better performance and a more cutomizable fit, will be available later this week.

The Jawbone PRIME features updated better noise elimination than past versions, thanks to its updated NoiseAssassin technology, the company says. I tested the last version of Aliph's NoiseAssassin when reviewing the current Jawbone headset, and found that it worked very well. Aliph says the new Jawbone also includes a digital wind reduction feature, making it easier to use outside.

In addition, the PRIME will feature more customization options for finding a comfortable fit. You'll get an earhook, three round earbuds in varying sizes, and three "new fit" earbuds, which are designed for a better fit if you opt not to use the earhook.

The PRIME is available in a variety of colors, including standards like black, plus bright hues like purple and green. It will be available on May 2 for $130.

How many USB drives do you have?

2009-03-02T15:52:00.006-05:00

PHILM - Putting content onto USB drives

Look on your desk, in your draws you probably by now are the proud owner of at least one USB drive.

What's on that drive? Nothing, a few files, PowerPoint, a PDF, link to a website.

Most of the time that's it, you wipe off those files and use it to store your own stuff!

Now imagine if you used the power of that drive, it's got a memory, it has a unique number, it can be setup to communicate, it can store stuff that is useful and it can present it in an easy way on and off line.

Welcome to a new world, the world of PHILM.

How can PHILM help you...

Bridge On and Offline

Clearwire's Ben Wolff on nationwide WiMax

2008-12-15T16:32:00.001-05:00

Clearwire's CEO talks about building out WiMax nationwide, finding Wimax's killer app and surviving the economic downturn.

Click for article on Computerworld

Clearwire shareholders back Sprint venture

2008-11-21T08:11:00.001-05:00

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Clearwire Corp (CLWR) said on Thursday its shareholders had voted to approve its proposed high-speed wireless joint venture with Sprint Nextel Corp (S) that includes an investment of $3.2 billion from cable, Web and chip partners.
Analysts had widely expected the vote, which was the last remaining hurdle for the deal, to be in favor of the venture, which will take on the Clearwire name. The venture would build a network based on WiMax, an emerging high-speed wireless technology.
Clearwire, which has the consent of the majority of its lenders, said it expects to amend and restate its credit agreements shortly to permit the deal.
In early May Clearwire and Sprint announced plans for a $14.5 billion venture that they hope would give them a head-start on AT&T Inc (T) and Verizon Wireless in developing the next generation of wireless data services.
As part of the deal, five strategic partners are investing a combined $3.2 billion in the venture. They include Intel Corp (INTC), Google Inc (GOOG), Comcast Corp (CMCSA), Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC) and Bright House Networks.
It wasn't immediately clear why shares of both Clearwire and Sprint were down sharply following the news.
Clearwire fell 23 percent to $4.46 at mid-afternoon on Nasdaq. Sprint dropped 20 percent to $1.50 on New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Sinead Carew, editing by Richard Chang)

Extra Monitors - Nanovision MIMO 7" USB

2008-11-07T23:48:00.007-05:00

USB graphics productivity is available now in a fun new pint size package. Powered by DisplayLink technology, the Nanovision MIMO 7" USB connected and powered LCD mini monitors are a friendly and affordable way to add productivity to notebook and desktop computers.

Hitting the Korean market first, the Nanovision MIMO monitors are ideal for dedicating visual workspace to applications that are used at a glance, such as instant messaging and calendars. MIMO is also perfect for Gadgets and Widget applications like news and weather monitoring and multimedia playback such as digital TV, video conferencing, MP3s, photos and more.

"Nanovision gives you what you want, when you want it," said Hamid Farzaneh, president and CEO of DisplayLink. "Fun applications are always within view, while reserving your main screens to the productivity task at hand."

Using USB for both connectivity and power, Nanovision is able to offer MIMO at consumer price points. The 700 series starts with the UM-710 7". Priced at 130,000 South Korean Won (US $129), it supports 800x480 resolution and both landscape and portrait orientation and either mirror or extend display modes.

"By exclusively becoming a USB device, the monitor has been transformed from a PC component to a consumer electronics gadget," added Farzaneh. "And by integrating multi-function features like VoIP, DTV and Touch Panels, the interesting uses for this technology have yet to be fully realized."

The MIMO model UM-730 adds a complete videophone with 1.3M Webcam, MIC and earphone jack, and the UM-750 features a Touch Screen. Nanovision sells direct to consumers and to electronics Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). For more information about Nanovision and the MIMO mini display visit www.nanovision.co.kr

"The MIMO mini display is so versatile," concluded Farzaneh. "We can't wait to see it make its way to desks worldwide."

About DisplayLink

DisplayLink Corp. is a chip and software company that helps people to create simple connections between computers and displays -- via USB or Ethernet. Its innovations make it easy to get more visual workspace while taking less time, money and energy than competing multi-monitor solutions. Using universally accepted wired or wireless networking protocols and proprietary software compression techniques, DisplayLink technology can transmit graphically rich content between a single device and multiple displays over a network. Leading global manufacturers have integrated DisplayLink technology into an array of PC accessories including monitors, video docking stations, display adapters and projectors. More information is at www.displaylink.com.

Wolff outlines top management for "new" Clearwire

2008-09-23T09:12:00.002-04:00

Ahead of the finalization of its joint venture with Sprint Nextel's Xohm unit, Clearwire Corp. provided details about its top management, and said its chief financial officer was leaving the company.

In an SEC filing, Ben Wolff, Clearwire's CEO, said that Barry West would be the company's president and chief architect, and that Atish Gude would serve as the chief marketing officer of the mobile WiMAX company. In the filing, Wolff also said that CFO Jon Butler would be stepping down to "spend more time with his family."

Both West and Gude will relocate to Clearwire's offices in Seattle.

Clearwire announced in May that it was merging with Sprint's Xohm unit to create a new company, and the joint venture has received billions of dollars in capital investment from Google, Comcast, Intel and other Internet and technology power players. Wolff said he expects to have all staff positions finalized by Oct. 31.

OpenTV and Adobe Collaborate To Advance Rich Television Experiences

2008-09-18T15:47:00.001-04:00

Integration of Adobe Flash onto OpenTV Middleware To Enable New Applications and User Interfaces

SAN JOSE, Calif. and AMSTERDAM — At IBC2008 OpenTV Corp. (Nasdaq: OPTV), a leading provider of advanced television services, and Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE), today announced that they have agreed to integrate Adobe® Flash® Lite™ software onto OpenTV middleware as an additional application environment, complementing OpenTV’s standard and HTML offerings, further enhancing Web browsing capabilities and strengthening the development of rich applications and user interfaces.

The agreement is based on a longstanding relationship between the two companies. OpenTV is also joining the Open Screen Project and will be working with Adobe and other members of the initiative to define the TV profile and Open Screen requirements to help enable great user experiences on television screens. Announced in May 2008, the Open Screen Project brings together industry leaders to deliver a consistent runtime environment across desktops, televisions and mobile devices by leveraging Adobe Flash technology and Adobe AIR™software.

“This collaboration is significant in that it brings two market leaders together to provide the best solutions for consumers of digital television,” said Tracy Geist, OpenTV’s senior vice president of Market Development. “By combining our technologies, the authoring and development benefits of Adobe Flash with the digital TV experience and technology of OpenTV, we’re opening the door to a host of new service possibilities for operators and developers worldwide.”

“Together, Adobe and OpenTV can push the boundaries of digital TV application development and bridge the gap between various sources of content, such as Web and television,” said Gary Kovacs, vice president and general manager, of Mobile and Devices at Adobe. “By combining the rich graphical effects of Flash technology with the advanced features of OpenTV’s Core middleware, we’re enabling developers of digital television services to leverage the best technologies for the delivery of advanced services to consumers worldwide.”

Extending OpenTV middleware to support Adobe Flash technology will be yet another key platform differentiator for OpenTV’s customers, allowing them to easily combine web technologies such as HTML and Adobe Flash to deploy new, rich services faster and readily generate time-sensitive applications such as advertising and other enhanced TV applications.

Availability

The first commercial deployment of OpenTV Core2 middleware with integrated Adobe Flash support is expected to be targeted at the Japanese market in the second half of 2009.

About OpenTV

OpenTV is one of the world’s leading providers of advanced digital television solutions and is dedicated to creating and delivering compelling viewing experiences to consumers of digital content worldwide. The company’s software has been integrated in more than 111 million devices around the world, and enables enhances program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive and addressable advertising and a variety of enhanced television applications. For more information, please visit www.opentv.com

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information - anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com .

The Story behind Google Chrome

2008-09-02T09:59:00.007-04:00

Google Chrome is an open source web browser developed by Google (named after the user interface frame of web browsers). It builds on components from other open source software, including WebKit and Mozilla, and is aimed at improving stability, speed and security, with a simple and efficient user interface.

The beta for the Windows version is due to be released September 2, 2008. Google will host a conference press that day at 18:00 GMT. Mac OS X and Linux versions are under development and will follow the Windows version.

New LOGO

Google launches Google Video™ for Business

2008-09-02T09:44:00.005-04:00

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) today announced Google Video™ for business, a new application in Google Apps™ for sharing video in an organization in two easy steps -- simply upload a video to Google Apps, and then invite others to view it. With Google Video for business, anyone can upload a video -- on anything ranging from executive communications to product training to trip reports -- and share it securely with individuals or the entire company. Google Video for business is now available as part of Google Apps Premier Edition at no additional cost.

"YouTube™ has enabled millions of consumers to easily capture and share video at an unprecedented level, yet corporate video has remained expensive and complicated," said Dave Girouard, president of enterprise, Google. "With Google Video for business, our customers get the ease of YouTube combined with the simple and secure sharing of Google Apps."

With Google Video for business, companies can leverage the power and intimacy of video to communicate all flavors of corporate information including:

* Leadership communications such as business updates and corporate announcements
* Training and how-to videos to share product knowledge and business expertise
* Customer insight derived from site visits, interviews, or focus groups
* Social videos that evangelize relevant activity and initiatives across an organization

"Productivity and other improvements driven by the telephone over the last hundred years, and email within the last 20, will now continue with broad use of video in the business environment," said Manesh Patel, chief information officer and senior vice president of IT, Sanmina-SCI. "Cost and complexity have until now limited the effective use of video to improve business functions. The integration of video into Google Apps, combined with continuing improvements in video devices and network infrastructure, provides significant opportunities for innovation and saving throughout our global teams."

Sharing video is as simple as clicking "browse" to find a video and "upload" to start sharing. Google Apps gives video owners multiple controls for sharing videos such as:

* share videos with individuals, groups, or the entire organization
* add descriptions and tags
* embed videos in any internal web page, including Google Sites

Viewers across the organization can:

* search for any video to which they have access
* view high-quality video from popular browsers (including Safari on iPhone)
* submit ratings, comments and additional tags
* optionally download videos for viewing offline or on portable devices

Google Video for business is available now in English to Google Apps Premier Edition accounts at no additional cost. Each Google Apps Premier Edition domain gets 3GB of Video storage per user account. Existing Premier Edition administrators can enable Google Video for business immediately from the Google Apps control panel. A version for Google Apps Education Edition customers that allows faculty and staff to upload and share videos with students will be available on September 8 for free trial until March 9, 2009, at which point it will cost $10 per user, per year.

Google Apps brings simple, powerful communication and collaboration tools to organizations. With Google Apps, users can use tools such as Gmail™ webmail service, Google Talk™ instant messaging service, Google Calendar™ calendaring service, Google Docs™ program, Google Sites™ web application, the Start Page for creating a customizable homepage, and now Google Video for business on their own domain to work together more effectively. To sign up for Google Apps or learn more, please visit www.google.com/a.

About Google Inc.

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.google.com.

Google, Google Video, Google Apps, YouTube, Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and Google Sites are trademarks of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.

New Palm Treo Pro

2008-08-21T08:39:00.003-04:00

New Palm Treo Pro, a WindowsMobile device with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a slick new design. Thisbusiness-centric handset is the big brother to the super-successful PalmCentro.

How Cool is Cuil?

2008-08-09T14:47:00.005-04:00

Technology Company Offers New Look at Search

MENLO PARK, Calif.—Cuil, a technology company pioneering a new approach to search, unveils its innovative search offering, which combines the biggest Web index with content-based relevance methods, results organized by ideas, and complete user privacy. Cuil (www.Cuil.com) has indexed 120 billion Web pages, three times more than any other search engine.

Cuil (pronounced COOL) provides organized and relevant results based on Web page content analysis. The search engine goes beyond today’s search techniques of link analysis and traffic ranking to analyze the context of each page and the concepts behind each query. It then organizes similar search results into groups and sorts them by category.

Cuil gives users a richer display of results and offers organizing features, such as tabs to clarify subjects, images to identify topics and search refining suggestions to help guide users to the results they seek.

“The Web continues to grow at a fantastic rate and other search engines are unable to keep up with it,” said Tom Costello, CEO and co-founder of Cuil. “Our significant breakthroughs in search technology have enabled us to index much more of the Internet, placing nearly the entire Web at the fingertips of every user. In addition, Cuil presents searchers with content-based results, not just popular ones, providing different and more insightful answers that illustrate the vastness and the variety of the Web.”

Cuil’s technology was developed by a team with extensive history in search. The company is led by husband-and-wife team Tom Costello and Anna Patterson. Mr. Costello researched and developed search engines at Stanford University and IBM; Ms. Patterson is best known for her
work at Google, where she was the architect of the company’s large search index and led a Web page ranking team. They refused to accept the limitations of current search technology and dedicated themselves to building a more comprehensive search engine. Together with Russell Power, Anna’s former colleague from Google, they founded Cuil to give users the opportunity to explore the Internet more fully and discover its true potential.

“Since we met at Stanford, Tom and I have shared a vision of the ideal search engine,” said Anna Patterson, President and COO of Cuil. “Our team approaches search differently. By leveraging our expertise in search architecture and relevance methods, we’ve built a more efficient yet richer search engine from the ground up. The Internet has grown and we think it’s time search did too.”

Cuil’s methods guarantee online privacy for searchers. Since the search engine ranks pages based on content instead of number of clicks, personal data collection is unnecessary, so personal search history is always private.

Summary of Cuil’s features:

Biggest Internet search engine—Cuil has indexed 120 billion Web pages, 3x more than any other search engine
Organized results—Cuil’s magazine-style layout separates results by subject and allows further search by concept or category
Different results—Unlike other search engines, Cuil ranks results by the content on each page, not its popularity
Complete privacy protection—Cuil does not keep any personally identifiable information on users or their search histories

About Cuil

Cuil (pronounced COOL) is a search engine that combines the largest Web index with content-based relevance methods, organized results, and complete user privacy. The company’s next generation approach to search is the result of proprietary breakthroughs in search architecture and ranking algorithms. Cuil’s employees have extensive experience in search, having worked at Google, IBM, eBay, AltaVista, Stanford University, the Internet Archive and other technology companies and research centers. Cuil is located in Menlo Park, California and has received series A funding from Tugboat Ventures and Greylock Partners, and series B funding from Madrone Capital Partners. Cuil derives its name from an old Irish word for knowledge, reflecting the background of co-founder and CEO, Tom Costello, who hails from Drogheda, Ireland. For more information, please visit www.cuil.com.

Contacts

Vince Sollitto, Cuil
press@cuil.com

Andrea MacLean, Manning Selvage & Lee
andrea.maclean@mslpr.com
415-293-2798

Contacts

Vince Sollitto, Cuil
press@cuil.com

American Airlines begins in-flight wi-fi trials

2008-06-27T14:21:00.002-04:00

American Airlines began its first tests of in-flight wi-fi this week. It has installed a system called gogo, developed by Aircell, and began its first tests on Wednesday.

The service will be installed on all 15 of American’s Boeing 767-200 fleet, which mainly fly transcontinental routes in the United States.

The gogo system will give passengers access to email, the internet and VPN services through any wi-fi-enabled device when the aircraft is above an altitude of 10,000 feet.

The first service scheduled for the trial was between New York JFK and Los Angeles International and was offered free of charge. When the trial goes commercial, passengers will pay $12.95 for flights over three hours and $9.95 for short hops.

Motorola and Kodak Launch ZN5 Camera Phone

2008-06-24T00:23:00.004-04:00

On Monday, the new MOTOZINE ZN5 camera phone was launched. This device is the result of the collaboration between phone-maker Motorola and imaging giant Kodak.

ZN5 features Kodak's Perfect Touch Technology, which will allow users to create panoramic images composed of up to three photos.

The ZN5 camera is the first comer of the Zine handset family.

It comes with five-megapixel resolution, a 4GB MicroSD card and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support. The device will be made available in the US sometime in July for the price of $507.60.

Sales of mobile phones reached 1.15 billion in 2007, market research company Gartner reported. This means a 16 percent increase from 2006, when 990.9 million phones were sold. The increase is due to the fact that technology kept evolving and consumers changed their old mobiles with new ones, looking for new features. This evolution hasn’t slown down one bit and phone sales will surely keep rising.

Last year, Motorola has lost market share, coming in third with a 14.3 percentage; other companies have had a better 2007 and recorded percentage rises: LG reached 6.8 percent, Sony Ericsson - 8.8 percent and Samsung - 13.4 percent. Nokia was declared the 2007 market leader, with a 40 percent market share and sales of about 435 million phones.

There were three new entrances in the top 10 in the last quarter of 2007: Research in Motion (RIM), ZTE and Apple. Apple launched the iPhone last June and has sold over 4 million units since then.

As new products keep on being released, there is no way of predicting how things will end up. Motorola’s new device could very well deliver the push the company is in need of.

Euro2008 Matches, Standings

2008-06-10T16:58:00.001-04:00

Amazon Kindle: buyers rush for the iPod of ebooks

2008-06-09T10:28:00.003-04:00

THE new generation of electronic books – ebooks – has fired a revolution even before they go on sale in Britain. Such is the sudden success in the United States of the Amazon Kindle, a reading device capable of storing 200 books, that UK buyers are bidding for them on eBay in the hope of shipping them over.

Although the US versions will not be fully operational in Britain, the Kindle is rapidly taking on the must-have aura of Apple’s iPod. After many false dawns, publishers fear the ebook could finally do to the book trade what the iPod has done to the music industry: turn it upside down.

One UK literary agent said: “It’s a tremendously exciting time. I can imagine a world where I would sell books direct from an author’s website.”

Another said: “Amazon clearly wants the Kindle to be the iPod of the book business.”

The Kindle, which is expected to go on sale in the UK later this year, has surprised US publishers and authors by how rapidly it has moved into the mainstream. Pat Schroeder, president of the Association of American Publishers, said: “I think people initially thought it would attract young people. But old people like it, too.”

The Kindle allows the user to increase the type size, making books easier to read for older people with impaired eyesight. When Walter Isaacson, former chairman of CNN and managing editor of Time magazine, acquired a Kindle, he soon found that his 84-year-old father and his 86-year-old father-in-law were asking for one as well as his 18-year-old daughter.

In the six months since the Kindle went on sale in the United States, it has grabbed a significant chunk of book sales. Jeffrey Bezos, founder of Amazon, said last week that the Kindle was already taking 6% of sales of books that were available in both traditional print and new electronic form.

Electronic readers of one sort or another have been around for years but the Kindle, and its rival the Sony Reader, deliver a quality and ease of use that seem to have mass appeal. The International Digital Publishing Forum, a trade group for ebook sellers, estimates that sales in March 2008 were 59% higher than in March 2007.

More than 125,000 titles are available for downloading and Simon & Schuster, the publisher, said it would add a further 5,000 titles this year.

In 2006 Harlequin Enterprises, the world’s biggest romance publisher, which sells 130m books a year, released eight titles in electronic form. Last year it decided to make all its titles available in both traditional and ebook formats.

“We blew away a lot of people’s expectations about ebooks,” said Brent Lewis, vice-president of digital and internet for Harlequin. Growing numbers of the company’s customers, he said, are reading romances on the Kindle, the Sony Reader or a mobile phone. In Japan all Harlequin’s ebooks are sold directly to customers’ mobiles.

Amazon has not decided how much ebooks for the Kindle will cost in Britain, but in America new releases and bestsellers, for example, typically cost $9.99 (£5), compared with £7.50-£10 for traditional volumes bought through the company’s website.

The Kindle, which costs $359 (£182) in America, has built-in free wireless internet connection, allowing users to download titles direct from Amazon’s website. Other firms’ readers require ebooks to be downloaded onto a computer and then transferred.

The pace of change, and Amazon’s aggressive lead, are unnerving British authors and publishers. They fear Amazon will use its dominance to squeeze them. Publishers sell books to retailers at a discount off the cover price. While 20 years ago this was about 35%-40%, Waterstone’s and Amazon now expect discounts of 50%-55%.

A pricing dispute recently led the online retailer to refuse to sell new copies of books such as Labyrinth by Kate Mosse and The 6th Target by James Patterson. The website removed its “buy now” button from about 60 books by authors of the publisher Hachette Livre UK, which also publishes Patricia Cornwell, the crime writer.

Tracy Chevalier, the historical novelist who chairs the Society of Authors, said: “What is unusual here is, Amazon is saying: ‘We are not going to sell these books.’ It’s greatly disappointing that Amazon would choose to punish authors in this way.”

Ozmo Devices Unveils the First Wi-Fi PAN Technology for Low-Power Applications

2008-06-02T12:25:00.000-04:00

PALO ALTO, Calif - June 2, 2008 - Ozmo Devices, a developer of low-power wireless solutions, announced today that the company has developed the first low-power Wi-Fi Personal Area Network (Wi-Fi PAN) technology to bring native low-power peripheral connectivity to Wi-Fi platforms. The Ozmo solution extends the Wi-Fi functionality already existing on many platforms to include connectivity with low-power wireless peripherals such as mice and headsets. Unlike legacy WPAN technologies, Ozmo Devices' innovative approach does not require an additional radio inside the platform or a dongle to communicate with the peripheral.

Ozmo Devices' low-power Wi-Fi PAN technology includes a software driver that delivers native low-power peripheral connectivity to the platform and a highly integrated, ultra-low-power IC in the wireless peripheral that seamlessly communicates with the platform. This unique two-part approach delivers unprecedented performance and cost advantages for system developers while at the same time solving integration and interoperability problems associated with traditional approaches.

Ozmo Devices' low-power Wi-Fi PAN solution is slated for integration in high-volume Wi-Fi-enabled platforms, and major peripheral manufacturers are actively sampling the Ozmo IC for their new designs. According to Brian VanHarlingen, Senior Technologist at Belkin, Ozmo Devices is enabling a new generation of wireless peripherals that can deliver unrivaled performance and convenience. "Belkin is committed to adopting new technologies that improve the consumer experience," he commented. "Ozmo Devices' innovative, practical approach to low-power Wi-Fi PAN promises to deliver both rich functionality and convenience through previously unrealized Wi-Fi functionality. We view Ozmo's technology as offering unique value to the peripheral market, and we look forward to introducing solutions that deliver on these promises."

Introduction of Ozmo Devices' low-power Wi-Fi PAN technology is ideally timed to leverage Wi-Fi's emergence as the preeminent technology for wireless networks. Over 100 million Wi-Fi-enabled notebook computers will ship in 2008, and ABI Research forecasts that over 240 million Wi-Fi-enabled consumer electronics devices will ship in 2011. Manufacturers of portable media players and home entertainment platforms are rapidly adopting Wi-Fi in response to consumer demand for secure, reliable wireless connectivity.

Ozmo Devices was founded as H-Stream Wireless in December 2004. The company is privately held and funded by Granite Ventures, Intel Capital, and Tallwood Venture Capital. The company is led by a team of renowned semiconductor and wireless industry veterans, including President and Chief Executive Officer Dave Timm, Chief Technical Officer Katelijn Vleugels, Vice President of Engineering Mike Schwartz, and Vice President of Software Jon Edney.

According to Dave Timm, Ozmo Devices' WPAN connectivity solution benefits platform developers, peripheral manufacturers, and users alike. "Wi-Fi has emerged as the wireless technology of choice, both at home and in the office. By leveraging the Wi-Fi chip that's already in so many mobile platforms, we're able to natively deliver wireless peripheral connectivity. Our unique low-power Wi-Fi PAN technology eliminates the interoperability and performance issues that have hindered broad adoption of traditional WPAN approaches. With Ozmo's low-power Wi-Fi PAN solution, users will enjoy the convenience of wireless operation without constantly worrying about performance, security, and battery life."

"Thanks to falling prices and improvements in basic technologies, the potential of Wi-Fi beyond its current application in enterprise, residential, and metro wireless LANs has been clear for some time," said Craig Mathias, a principal with the wireless and mobile advisory firm Farpoint Group (Ashland, MA). "Ozmo Devices' introduction of its low-power Wi-Fi PAN is a remarkable innovation that will change how users think about Wi-Fi, expanding applications and improving performance in the bargain. This is a very important new direction for Wi-Fi."

Ozmo Devices' Timm added that the company looks forward to broad adoption of its technology in applications ranging from mobile computing and communications to home entertainment.

About Ozmo Devices
Founded in December 2004 as H-Stream Wireless, Ozmo Devices is the leading provider of low-power Wi-Fi PAN solutions. Ozmo Devices extends the functionality of Wi-Fi-enabled platforms to seamlessly communicate with peripherals. Ozmo Devices' silicon solution delivers superior performance for low-power wireless peripherals like mice and headsets. Ozmo Devices is backed by top-tier venture capital firms and managed by semiconductor industry veterans. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, and has offices in the United Kingdom. For more information about Ozmo Devices, visit www.ozmodevices.com.

Clearwire, Sprint Nextel to merge wireless units

2008-05-07T17:23:00.003-04:00

KIRKLAND, Wash. — Clearwire and Sprint Nextel are planning to merge their wireless broadband units to create a new $14.55-billion (U.S.) wireless communications company.

The new company, to be named Clearwire, will receive a $3.2-billion investment from Intel Corp., Google Inc., Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks. The investment is based on a target price of $20 per Clearwire share and will give the companies a 22 per cent stake in the new venture.

Sprint Nextel Corp. will be majority owner with a 51 per cent equity stake, while existing Clearwire shareholders will receive about 27 per cent interest.

Clearwire, which will concentrate on rolling out a mobile network based on the emerging WiMAX standard, will also receive an investment from Trilogy Equity Partners, led by U.S. wireless industry veteran John Stanton.

WiMAX promises faster download speeds than the latest networks run by cell-phone operators, and it's even seen as a potential competitor to fixed-line broadband.

Sprint and Clearwire, a startup founded by cellular pioneer Craig McCaw, had already announced their plans to build out networks using WiMAX technology, but had been looking for outside funding.

The new company will be led by Clearwire Chief Executive Benjamin Wolff, with Sprint Chief Technology Officer Barry West serving as president. West also leads Sprint's XOHM division.

The Kirkland, Wash.-based venture will house workers from Clearwire and Sprint's XOHM unit and will have research and development and other operations located in Herndon, Va.

The deal, which has been approved by the boards of all companies involved, is expected to close during the fourth quarter.

Leading Design Strategist Lunar Design and Innovator Philm Rethink USB Flash Drives

2008-04-16T16:42:00.001-04:00

Philm Transforms a Commodity Product into a Premium B2B Solution

San Francisco, Calif. -- Lunar Design and Philm announce their collaboration in creating premium value from the conventional USB flash drive. By combining proprietary content and best-in-class partners, Philm transforms conventional USB flash drives into a premium solution for leading companies interested in connecting powerfully with their customers.

“Our B2B product is giving Ferrari, Nestlé, Baume & Mercier, Lindt, and organizations such as the World Economic Forum and the International Olympic Committee a unique vehicle for one-to-one engagement with their stake holders, wherever they are,” says Bernard Kuemmerli, founder of Philm. “For those firms, Philm is not a USB stick – it is a new media that allows them to stay top of mind, whether their target group is online or not.”

At first sight the Philm sticks look like USB flash drives, but they behave differently in an important way. When you plug Philm into any computer, a customized navigation screen appears that gives you high-speed access to a company’s chosen content. The content can be similar to a company website with three distinct advantages. Unlike online content, Philm’s content can be very high quality, such as high definition video, because Philm is faster than viewing at clips over the internet. Second, the content is viewable whether or not the host computer is connected to the internet. And third, different from a DVD-ROM, the content is never out of date. Philm can be configured to be updatable over the internet so that price lists, evolving product specifications or personalized offers can be downloaded automatically whenever they change; the user can even give feedback or order directly from the stick. And while a DVD-ROM can lose its value after one or two viewings, the Philm stick maintains its usefulness as a flash drive for personal data. Thanks to Philm, the USB flash drive becomes a strategic communication and sales tool, allowing highly immersive and interactive communication with stakeholders.

Combining business analysis with creativity, Lunar Design founder Jeff Smith and former Bain & Company partner Bernard Kuemmerli created the unique strategy of Philm. Together they represent a perfect balance of the left brain and right brain thinking required to successfully create these paradigm-breaking business ventures.

Lunar led the development of the stick by building an unprecedented team of designers, engineers, manufacturers and software programmers. Kuemmerli fueled the business creation, using a seasoned ability to raise capital and build a network of premium customers who are now benefiting from Philm’s unique value.

“Design creativity is the anti-commodity,” said Smith. “For clients like SanDisk, we have seen how design can be used to differentiate products from their competitors’ offering and command extra value. The SanDisk Cruzer Contour, for instance, is one of our designs that uses exquisite material choices and pays special attention to the physical behavior of the device to get a higher price at retail. In the case of Philm, our experience in design creativity meant we could build an all-star team – experts in design and engineering and manufacturing – who put together a product delivering a new media experience that increases the value of a USB stick tenfold.”

About Lunar Design

Lunar creates winning consumer, technology and medical products that make a difference to its clients’ stakeholders, brands and markets. With a portfolio of highly successful products that have generated tens of billions of dollars in sales, Lunar has consistently held a spot among the top 5 award-winning industrial design firms for the last 10 years, according to Business Week magazine. Founded in 1984, Lunar provides full-service product development with offices in California, Hong Kong, and Europe. Lunar’s current and past clients include Apple Computer, Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft Corporation, Motorola, Philips, Oral-B, Palm, Pepsi, and Sony.

About PHILM

Philm is a trademark with patents pending around the world belonging to T’emogique, Inc, a company with headquarters in Palo Alto, California, and organizational units in Switzerland and Canada. The company has the intention of adding bottom line results to their clients by improving their one-to-one communication towards stakeholders through interactive media that work online as well as off-line.

For press information contact:
Amy Cunha
amy@bigpicpr.com
415-626-3333

What's Next in Tech

2008-03-03T14:06:00.003-05:00

Slingbox - Watch your TV anywhere

Clearwire, Sprint resume talks

2008-01-29T17:36:00.000-05:00

Wireless Internet provider Clearwire Corp. and cellular operator Sprint Nextel Corp. have reportedly restarted talks to combine their high-speed wireless WiMax networks.

Sprint and Clearwire are discussing a joint venture that would attract funding from Intel Corp., a major backer of WiMax technology, which promises faster wireless Web connection speeds for laptops and cell phones than mobile operators' third-generation networks.

The companies have also approached Google Inc. and Best Buy Inc. about financing, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Sprint has started rolling out its WiMax network in some markets and has said it wants to reach 100 million U.S. consumers by the end of this year.

Helen Chung, a Clearwire spokeswoman, declined to comment on the report. A Sprint spokesman did not immediately return a call and an e-mail for comment.

The companies' first attempt to forge a WiMax partnership ended in November, sending shares of the much smaller Clearwire down more than 40 percent in the ensuing weeks. Since then, the companies have discussed a plan to spin off Sprint's WiMax unit, called Xohm, and merge it with Clearwire, according to the report.

Clearwire operates pre-WiMax networks in 46 U.S. markets, including Seattle, Syracuse, N.Y., and Duluth, Minn. The Seattle-based company, founded by cellular pioneer Craig McCaw, is testing a full-fledged WiMax network in Portland, Ore.

Shares of Clearwire skyrocketed $2.43, or 19.5 percent, to $14.88 in afternoon trading, while Sprint's stock jumped 78 cents, or 7.8 percent, to $10.75.

DoCoMo disbands WiMAX partnership

2008-01-22T11:24:00.000-05:00

Following its failure to secure a chunk of WiMAX spectrum in December, leading Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has dissolved its wireless broadband partnership with ACCA Wireless.

Network technology firm ACCA had entered into a strategic partnership with DoCoMo last summer, for the purpose of securing a license to provide broadband wireless services based on mobile WiMAX technology.

But Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications granted the two available broadband wireless service licenses to rival operator KDDI and PHS operator Willcom, rendering the DoCoMo partnership no longer relevant.

KDDI and WIllcom are set to launch WiMAX services in 2009 and may also lease out spectrum to other parties interested in offering WiMAX services.

MacBook Air - a Guided Tour

2008-01-16T18:08:00.000-05:00

OpenTV and Auction Network Announce Deal

2008-01-14T17:15:00.000-05:00

OpenTV Participate(TM) Solution to power first-ever Internet and TV network devoted to the auction industry in the US

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OpenTV Corp. , a leading provider of solutions for the delivery of advanced television and cross-platform interactive services, announced today that Auction Network, the first-ever US television network devoted to the auction industry, has chosen the OpenTV Participate solution to power its live Internet auction business and upcoming television launch.

Auction Network, whose programming will feature televised and live auctions ranging from thoroughbred horse sales in Kentucky to Ozzy Osbourne's celebrity auction to wine auctions from around the world, will use OpenTV Participate to handle all auction transactions, allowing viewers to interact in real-time with television programming via Web, IVR voice telephony, portable devices and, in the future, set-top boxes. Auction Network delivers the thrill and excitement of live auction programming with the interactivity to make it easy to view items, place bids and become the high bidder, even if the auction is on the other side of the world.

"Auction Network has a unique and exciting vision that fully embraces many of the new concepts OpenTV has been developing in our enterprise product strategy for broadcasters," said Ben Bennett, OpenTV's Chief Operating Officer. "One of the most important concepts, in our view, is the absolute pre-requisite for broadcasters to have a direct two-way relationship with their viewers -- Auction Network is a wonderful example of that capability."

"With Auction Network launching as a 24/7 streaming Internet Network rapidly migrating to live TV, the biggest challenge we faced was seamless integration of traditional and new media broadcast technologies with customer interaction and data aggregation," said Pam McKissick, Auction Network's Chief Executive Officer. "OpenTV Participate allows us to do that without over-complicating our daily operations. We have found that OpenTV Participate is a visionary, second-generation system that dramatically alleviates issues our cutting edge broadcast network might face."

OpenTV Participate's powerful servers enable unlimited concurrent auctions to be set up using simple wizard-based auction logic that supports more than 17 types of auction events. OpenTV Participate's fully integrated scheduling and studio console applications will give auction clerks, production staff and auctioneers live auction data providing dynamic TV programming, originated in studios and on location, with real-time viewer participation and instant business analysis.

OpenTV Participate's modular solution also enables Auction Network to manage viewer registration, billing, fulfillment, accounts, customer care, loyalty schemes, and marketing using a single back-office application. With its state of the art CRM and marketing modules, and cross-platform data aggregation, OpenTV Participate will provide Auction Network with flexible business reporting, deep insight into customer behavior, global business analysis and instant communication with consumers at the touch of a button. In addition, the product can provide added-value content such as trivia, sponsor messages and interactive and targeted advertising.

About OpenTV

OpenTV is one of the world's leading providers of solutions for the delivery of digital and interactive television. The company's software has been integrated in more than 96 million digital set-top boxes and digital televisions around the world, and enables enhanced program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive shopping, interactive and addressable advertising, games and a variety of consumer care and communication applications. For more information, please visit http://www.opentv.com

EXPERIENCE HOLLYWOOD MEGA-HITS LIKE NEVER BEFORE

2008-01-10T10:53:00.000-05:00

D-Box Motion Code Technology To Be Featured on Two "Must Have"
Blu-ray Disc Titles From Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

INDEPENDENCE DAY and I, ROBOT Debut on BD with D-BOX March 11

LAS VEGAS - CES Booth South 1 20659 - January 9, 2008 - D-BOX Technologies (TSX-V:
DBO.A) today announced that Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's Blu-ray disc
releases of INDEPENDENCE DAY and I, ROBOT, available March 11, 2008, will feature DBOX's
award-winning motion code technology.

With D-BOX, viewers can get right into the action of their favorite films in a way they never
thought possible. Every FRAME in INDEPENDENCE DAY and I, ROBOT has been encoded
by the motion artists at the D-BOXTM motion editing studio, from the most subtle to the most
explosive. Viewers equipped with a D-BOX integrated motion system will actually feel the rush
of flight, the torque of speed and bumps in the road, and virtually every pulse in these two science fiction action thrillers.

"We are thrilled to continue this work with Fox and help movie-viewers experience these
amazing Blu-ray titles in a whole new way," said Claude Mc Master, President and Chief
Executive Officer, D-BOX Technologies. "A Blu-ray home entertainment system that includes DBOX's integrated motion system is really the ultimate in in-home cinematic experiences for
movie lovers."

In addition to the upcoming releases of INDEPENDENCE DAY and I, ROBOT, Fox has
previously released several of its high profile Blu-ray Disc titles with the D-BOX Motion Code
including the recent top-selling releases of FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER
SURFER and LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD.

"D-BOX offers viewers a truly immersive home entertainment experience perfectly suited to the action in INDEPENDENCE DAY and I,ROBOT," stated Danny Kaye, Executive Vice
President, Global Research & Technology Strategy, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

"We believe motion technology could be the wave of the future and is a complement to Blu-ray's
superior picture and audio quality and advanced interactivity."

About D-BOX Technologies

D-BOX Technologies designs and manufactures high-technology motion systems destined
mainly for the entertainment industry. Its unique, patented technology uses motion codes
specifically programmed for each film, TV program or video game, resulting in motion that is

OpenTV Selected by TrueVisions UBC for PVR Launch

2008-01-10T10:45:00.000-05:00

Thailand's leading digital pay-TV operator to offer personal video recording services powered by OpenTV Core2(TM), OpenTV PVR2(TM)

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OpenTV Corp. , a leading provider of solutions for the delivery of advanced digital television and cross-platform interactive services, announced today that TrueVisions UBC, Thailand's leading digital pay-TV operator, has selected OpenTV's middleware solution to enable and power their new PVR services.

"OpenTV is very excited to have been selected by TrueVisions UBC to enable a wide array of PVR functionalities and power a strong offering of new services," said Mike Ivanchenko, OpenTV's Senior Vice President of Sales. "This new deployment further strengthens OpenTV's position as the provider of choice for middleware solutions and reinforces our vision of an integrated digital world where consumers have easy access to meaningful and targeted content."

TrueVisions UBC will be offering standard definition personal video recorders by Humax integrated with OpenTV Core2 and OpenTV PVR2 solutions, in combination with Irdeto's content security for digital TV. OpenTV's advanced platform will provide TrueVisions UBC subscribers with a range of interactive TV content, PVR services and will allow for mobile and Web management of their PVR services. The EPG, PVR applications, and interactive TV services were developed by TrueVisions UBC and integrated seamlessly with OpenTV's platform.

"OpenTV has been a key partner in our efforts to offer compelling and advanced services to better enable our customers' lifestyle to enjoy television and other value added services," said Ongard Prapakamol, Chief Commercial Officer for TrueVisions UBC. "Their solutions enable us to fulfill our product strategy in providing a well integrated PVR with a highly intuitive user experience and compelling interactive TV services like football live score, games, and much more exciting services to come."

TrueVisions UBC's PVR services are currently in final testing and are expected to launch early 2008.

About OpenTV

About True Visions Plc.

TrueVisions UBC, a subsidiary of True Corporation Plc, is the largest subscription-based television provider in Thailand. TrueVisions provides a superior-quality signal through its CAtv and DStv networks. TrueVisions is committed to delivering globally-popular programming on 82 high-quality channels, including infotainment, knowledge, news, sports, and entertainment content. TrueVisions boasts a wide selection of home entertainment as well as impressive after sale service. TrueVisions offer its subscribers the Platinum Package, Gold Package, Silver Package, True Knowledge Package, and 38 channel convergence package known as TrueLife Free View. And now TrueVisions also offers a new buy-through package from HBO, Discovery and Disney.

Watch Amazon.com

2008-01-07T10:15:00.000-05:00

Amazon.com

2008 Facebook Predictions

2008-01-02T13:03:00.000-05:00

1. Facebook will break the 125 Million User Watermark
2. There will be over 37,000 Different Facebook Applications
3. Facebook will license it’s platform to 3 Major Social Networking Sites
4. Facebook will Partner with a Major Media Outlet to bring unique Multi-Media content to Facebook (or create their own)
5. Facebook will be the top social networking site in over 13 countries
6. Facebook will announce Facebook Platform 2 which will blow away how we think of social connections and add more robust features
7. Facebook will acquire 2 “widget companies”
8. Facebook will become the most commonly used standard for social widget/app development (Not Google’s Open Social)
9. You will no longer have to install an application to use it on Facebook
10. Facebooks unified payment system will bring the beginnings of ecommerce to a social ecosystem that generates over 300 Million in transactions.
11. Facebook will launch an Advertising Network for application developers that delivers higher value to consumers and application owners (revenue).
12. Facebook will hit 400+ Million in Revenue
13. Facebook will have 400 Applications from Brands in the ecosystem (70% will suck and get no traction because they don’t understand social networks and how to touch users in that environment)

2008 The Year of Widget Growth

2008-01-02T11:38:00.000-05:00

Seemingly overnight, everyone is in love with widgets.

Consumers love the tiny software applications that let them share music, photos and videos, and even throw virtual sheep at one another, on social networks. And social networks love widgets because they help boost traffic and ad revenue on their sites.

On Facebook alone, users have installed nearly 13,000 widgets approximately 765 million times, according to Adonomics, a Web site that tracks widgets on the social network. Adonomics estimates the combined value of these widgets to be $374 million. There are also rumors that major media companies, notably News Corp. (nyse: NWS - news - people ), want to add developers to their stable of properties.

As a result, the number of individual hackers and companies that develop widgets has mushroomed to an estimated 100,000 worldwide, begging the question of whether the sector is in a bubble. Industry experts, however, say the concern is misplaced--for now--and that the fast ramp up is no different from what has happened in past generations of software development.

"It's too early to call it a bubble or a success," says Ross Levinsohn, the former News Corp. executive who oversaw the company's celebrated acquisition of MySpace. "You're really talking about the last six months as the real beginning of the growth of applications. It's just the beginning of what we're going to see over the next 12 to 18 months."

David Weiden, a partner at Khosla Ventures, which has invested in widget companies Slide and iLike, says a modest number of developers--about 20--received venture funding in 2007. He says investors are much more prudent now, and want to avoid the bubble conditions of a decade ago. "If there were widget companies that are public and have no revenue, I would say that's a financial bubble," Weiden says.

Slide founder Max Levchin likens the flurry of activity to the 1980s software-development boom. "It's very similar to shareware and freeware," says Levchin, who also co-founded online payment system PayPal. But widget development is a lot faster, he says. "It's like the 1980s played out in half a year."

The widget sector kicked into high gear last May when Facebook created an open platform for developers. Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) followed suit in November, announcing its own platform, OpenSocial. Applications for OpenSocial, however, have not been released yet, and development is said to be slow.

Jia Shen, co-founder of widget company RockYou!, says widget development is similar to Web site development, and thus, widgets are being valued the same way. "The metrics are about reach and not about how much money they're making," Shen says.

But unlike the dot-coms of old, many widgets are making money, mostly through advertising. Shen declined to discuss RockYou!'s revenues, but said that widget shops with just a few developers are raking in $80,000 a month in ad revenues.

Shen also says that some widgets have the potential to morph into full-fledged Web sites that can generate even more revenue. "There's been a lot of criticism of the applications as toys," he says. "One of our applications was Zombie, a goofy application that lets users ‘bite' friends virtually. After awhile people got bored with it, so we built it into a full-fledged game with virtual goods."

Indeed, corporations are viewing widgets less as frivolous gadgets, and more as business tools to boost traffic and ad revenue on their sites. "Six months ago, the thought of someone altering his or her homepage to incorporate someone else's widget into their brand [was considered] dilutive," says Jay Adelson, chief executive of social network Digg. "There's been an acceptance by traditional media that widgets give them some reciprocal benefit. In 2008, you'll see traditional brands that have controlled every element of their page open up."

To meet rising demand, developer shops are adding engineers and working round the clock to make new and better widgets. Flixster, which says its movie-review widgets have been installed on Facebook more than 13 million times and is also developing applications for Google's OpenSocial, has doubled its engineering staff to 12 since November.

But competition for engineering talent is fierce. "Most people have several options," says Flixster Chief Executive Joe Greenstein. "We pay reasonable salaries and give people generous stock options, but do we have to compete with the relatively high salaries from Google and Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people )? Yes."

Digg's Adelson says he has resorted to looking outside Silicon Valley for engineers. "We are trying like mad to hire more engineers," he says. "It's really, really hard. I pretty much have to import people from other states."

Levinsohn, now a partner at venture firm Velocity Interactive Group, says 2008 will be a big year for media-company acquisitions of Web 2.0 companies. In 2007, just a few tiny widget shops were absorbed by bigger ones, such as Slide. "There are a lot of good ideas that could benefit from big media," Levinsohn says. "You have a lot of companies that hit a wall and can't get beyond a certain level. They need the infrastructure and distribution of a large company."

Still, widget developers know they can't all be winners. "Not all the developers will survive," or get acquired, says Slide's Levchin. "I can look back to the '80s playbook and know what's going to happen."

Widget Wave
Bubbling Widget Growth
Wendy Tanaka, 01.02.08, 12:01 AM ET

Rogers ISP antics rattle net neutrality supporters

2007-12-13T10:31:00.000-05:00

Rogers Communications Inc. plans to unveil technology that allows it to inject corporate content into any Web site its subscribers visit, but the move is generating outrage from net neutrality proponents as well as search engine giant Google Inc.

Earlier this week, a screen shot of a Rogers-modified Google home page – branded with a notice from the Toronto-based ISP – surfaced on numerous tech blogs. The message, which appears embedded into the body of the Web page, warns users who are close to reaching their monthly bandwidth capacity of the potential penalties they could face. Rogers later confirmed it is testing this service for a potential first quarter 2008 launch.

In the leaked screen shot, the top third of Google’s search page is obstructed by the corporate message; a fact that was troubling to the Mountain View, Calif.-based search engine.

“We are concerned about these reports,” a Google spokesperson said in an e-mail to ComputerWorld Canada. “As a general principle, we believe that maintaining the Internet as a neutral platform means that carriers shouldn't be able to interfere with Web content without users' permission. We are in the process of contacting the relevant parties to bring this to a quick resolution.”

And Google isn’t the only one raising the net neutrality issue, as many industry observers and bloggers were critical of Rogers’ new notification methods.

“This highlights the level of control network controllers have and in doing so further supports the need for net neutrality legislation,” Michael Geist, research chair of Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, said.

As it is commonly defined, net neutrality is the idea that ISPs should treat all Web sites and traffic equally. But Taanta Gupta, vice-president of communications at Rogers, denied claims that the ISP is violating net neutrality and defended the notification service.

“This is not data substitution,” Gupta responded in an e-mail. “It is not linked to any specific search engine or Web site. It is simply a real-time message to a customer indicating that the customer has reached 75 or 100 per cent of their bandwidth limit.”

Gupta continued, saying that real-time notifications are more effective at reaching customers than e-mails and that Rogers “do not have e-mails for all [of its] customers.”

But according to Internet policy critics such as Pippa Lawson, executive director at the University of Ottawa’s Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), the ill-conceived and intrusive actions of the ISP are similar to those of spyware and malware companies and said it Rogers own fault that its ruined email as a useful medium for communication.

“I’m a Rogers subscriber and I just don’t look at the stuff they send anymore, because most of it is crap,” Lawson said. “Rogers has chosen to muddy their e-mail with stuff that its subscribers don’t need or want to hear about. This is exactly the medium for this kind of important information and they should be using it for these notifications rather than ongoing promotions and advertising.”

Another blogger, co-editor Boing Boing co-editor Cory Doctorow, said Rogers’ actions could be the first in a line of more serious net neutrality violations.

“There has been speculation that Rogers would love to insert advertisements via these means, which would certainly be coherent with its known behaviour lately,” Doctorow said.

Some industry observers have even gone so far to question the legality of the service. Russell McOrmond, an Internet consultant and head of the Digital Copyright Canada blog, said that because Rogers forces its users onto its Web proxy, modifying and distribution Web pages could become a copyright issue. According to McOrmond, when a Rogers subscriber accesses a particular Web site, the next person that accesses said Web site gets the images and content from Rogers cache rather than having to load it themselves.

A Web proxy services the requests of its clients by forwarding requests to other servers and having clients connects to the proxy when accessing files or Web pages. A proxy server may also cache the first request to the remote server, so it could save the information for later. The cache acts as a temporary storage area where frequently accessed data can be stored for rapid access and future use can be made by accessing the cached copy rather than re-fetching or recompiling the original data.

“When Rogers modifies the html file in their cache and sends it to its subscribers, it means the Web page has become a derivative work of the original page under copyright,” McOrmond said. “So if the licence for the particular Web site being modified does not allow for derivative works, Rogers would becomes a pirate. This is a modified work which is considered a worse violation of copyright than verbatim distribution for free.”

Rogers spokespeople did not respond to a series of follow-up questions sent via e-mail Tuesday afternoon.

By: Rafael Ruffolo
ComputerWorld Canada

TomTom and Google team up on business information

2007-12-05T10:30:00.000-05:00

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch navigation systems company TomTom (TOM2.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it was teaming up with Internet search leader Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) so users can find and send business addresses to their portable devices.

TomTom, which makes navigation devices for cars and mapping software for handheld computers, said in a statement its users would be able to search for business addresses on Google Maps and transfer them to their TomTom device.

"This cooperation represents a major step for TomTom in meeting the growing demands of our customers for personalized content for their TomTom devices," said Eric Pite, vice president for product management at TomTom.

TomTom shares, which tumbled on Tuesday after announcing an equity issue to help fund its purchase of digital map supplier Tele Atlas (TA.AS: Quote, Profile, Research), were up 2.4 percent at 60.40 euros by 3:03 a.m. EST, compared with a 0.7 percent rise on the DJ Stoxx technology index .

TomTom said its users would be able to transfer information to their devices when they are connected to the Internet with one mouse click and then view the location on their TomTom.

It said it would continue to explore partnerships with third parties to expand the personalization options it offers.

The tie-up would for instance allow TomTom users to plan a city trip by searching for accommodation, restaurants or museums using Google Maps on their computer and then transfer the places they want to visit to their TomTom device.

TomTom's devices do include so-called "points of interest" -- such as restaurants, petrol stations and parking garages -- but if a user has not regularly bought map upgrades, such data can become out of date.

Industry experts have also argued that consumers usually do not sit in their cars using a navigation system to plan trips, and are much more likely to use their computers at home, where they have full Internet access.

TomTom expects a substantial number of devices sold next year to be online and receiving real-time traffic information and eventually other services over wireless networks.

These services could help TomTom fend off a challenge from handset makers such as Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research), which are increasingly building global positioning (GPS) technology into phones, promising to turn a cellphone into a navigation device.

Nokia, the world's largest handset maker, signaled in October this month it was serious about GPS by offering to pay $8.1 billion to take over digital map maker Navteq (NVT.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

TomTom was forced to raise its bid for Tele Atlas to about 2.9 billion euros last month to seal the deal after U.S. rival Garmin (GRMN.O: Quote, Profile, Research) offered 2.3 billion euros for the company.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson, editing by Will Waterman)

Can Sprint Hang On to WiMAX in the Face of a Financial Struggle?

2007-11-29T12:47:00.000-05:00

“Sprint is under increasing financial pressure as it loses subscribers to competitors such as Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T,” says Phil Solis, principal mobile broadband analyst at ABI Research. “Many say Sprint should focus on its core business rather than push forward with WiMAX, but this idea is nonsensical.”

ABI Research believes that within the general context of competitive prices, extensive marketing campaigns, and the continual release of new devices, Sprint would be foolish to abandon a differentiator such as WiMAX.

“It’s ironic,” continues Solis, “because Sprint’s investors seem to be pressuring the company to slow down if not halt completely its WiMAX deployments; meanwhile this could be the best avenue to turn the company around.”

In July 2007, Sprint announced a partnership with Clearwire, splitting build-out costs 63%:37%, respectively. But rumors suggested a breakdown, causing Sprint to bear the full financial weight with respect to WiMAX development, thereby adding to its monetary burdens. Many believed the contract was severed, but in fact, the two companies never formed an official contract; only a letter of intent was signed.

“So in reality, a ‘breakup’ never occurred,” explains Solis. “And at present, both companies are continuing with their own mobile WiMAX networks, with various options still open – a partnership remains viable. This may take a form roughly similar to what was originally conceived, or it may be a roaming arrangement.”

WiMAX network deployments hold great potential to re-shape the global telecommunications industry due to WiMAX’s expanded device array in which handsets play just a small part. Other 3G and 4G air interfaces will do this as well, as noted by Samsung’s HSPA-enabled camera, Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader with EV-DO, and Verizon Wireless’ announcement that it will open its network to any device supporting its air interfaces and spectrum; but there is a bigger push to do this with WiMAX, and it is expected that WiMAX chipset prices will be more competitive than 3G chipsets.

The recent ABI Research report WiMAX Market Analysis and Forecasts examines major drivers and barriers for WiMAX and compares it with 3G and other 4G technologies, and contains forecasts for 802.16-2004 and 802.16e-2005. It forms part of two ABI Research Services: Mobile Broadband, and Wireless Infrastructure.

ABI Research is a leading market research firm focused on the impact of emerging technologies on global consumer and business markets. Utilizing a unique blend of market intelligence, primary research, and expert assessment from its worldwide team of industry analysts, ABI Research assists hundreds of clients each year with their strategic growth initiatives. For information, visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.

Amazon launches info sharing Web site Askville.com

2007-11-29T10:12:00.000-05:00

NEW YORK, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's largest Web retailer, launched Askville.com, an information-sharing Web site where users can ask questions and answer queries from others, on Thursday.

The site, open to all of its customers, has been in beta testing since December 2006 and has already been open to a few users, Amazon said.

Similar services are offered by Yahoo Inc's (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Answers and other Web sites such as AnswerBank. Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) also had an "Answers" section, which has been discontinued.

USB Wine

2007-11-26T17:51:00.000-05:00

USBWine

New handheld set to exploit WiMax

2007-11-26T14:48:00.000-05:00

A Taiwanese government-backed consortium has developed a powerful handheld PC that uses a WiMax wireless broadband connection to access the web.

The MTube, as the device is called, carries a 1GHz microprocessor made by Via Technologies, an x86-based processor able to use software meant for PCs. But the MTube weighs only 150 grams and has a 2.8-inch screen, so it's small enough to fit in person's pocket. It can store 8GB of songs, photos and other data and runs on a Linux OS.

MTube also works with Wi-Fi connections, but does not work on 3G mobile telecommunications networks, according to Shen Shu-heng, an official at Taiwan's Institute for Information Industry (III), one of the groups responsible for the device.

Development of the MTube, which is made solely from parts manufactured in Taiwan, is aimed at promoting Taiwanese made goods, as well as developing more devices and applications for WiMax wireless Internet broadband services, Shen said.

Taiwan is positioning itself to be one of the fastest adopters of WiMax connectivity outside of North America through its MTube initiative. Officials see the technology as a good way to spread broadband Internet access throughout the island, which includes remote mountain villages and sparsely populated outlying islands.

Last month, the Taiwan government added several multinationals to a growing list of WiMax wireless broadband technology partners, including Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, Nokia Siemens Networks and Sprint Nextel. The partnerships are intended to encourage foreign companies to build WiMax research and development centers in Taiwan and look to Taiwanese companies for parts and contract manufacturing work.

Intel was an early champion of WiMax as a replacement for the Wi-Fi wireless networking standard, used for Internet access in coffee shops, airports and other places in much of the developed world. The chip giant has already signed a similar agreement with Taiwan and is working with Taiwanese computer parts makers to ready the technology for inclusion in laptop PCs next year.

Taiwan's III worked with the Science and Technology Advisory Group, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and other government agencies to develop the MTube.

By Dan Nystedt, IDG news service

McCaw Bets Again on Wireless Frontier

2007-11-15T19:06:00.001-05:00

An article in the Wall Street Journal sheds a bit more light some of the plans Sprint and Clearwire have been considering for their WiMAX businesses after ending their plans to build out a nationwide network together. The article, which features a rare interview with Clearwire's Craig McCaw (although very light on the quotes and attributions), says Sprint's board last week rejected a plan to spin off the WiMAX unit and merge it with Clearwire. Meanwhile, it says Clearwire is holding discussions with parties that might include Intel, Comcast and Google about a direct partnership.

Read Full Article »

New WiMax Players Could Emerge As Sprint, Clearwire Split

2007-11-11T08:42:00.000-05:00

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- The early end to the partnership between Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) and Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) opens the possibility of others getting involved with WiMax, a longer range version of WiFi seen as an attractive way of connecting consumers online.

Those who might pursue a WiMax partnership include Google Inc. (GOOG), cable companies or satellite TV providers. Clearwire - which builds and operates the WiMax network and service - also could try to expand the business itself, and then there's the possibility that Sprint, after it finds a new chief executive, could seek a reconciliation.

"It's fair to say we are looking and exploring all of our potential strategic options," Clearwire Chief Executive Ben Wolff told analysts on a Friday conference call. "There's quite a lot of focus on this space now."

The attraction of WiMax isthe ability to provide an alternative road to the Internet, freeing a number of industries from the stranglehold placed on them by the telecommunications and cable companies. The potential to offer mobile phone service over WiMax is attractive to cable. For Clearwire, Kirkland, Wash., partnering with a household name gives it instant credibility and the means to acquire additional wireless spectrum.

But the cost of building out the network may serve as a detriment to some, and was likely a concern that Sprint, Reston, Va., factored in when ending its partnership.

Sprint's departure is a huge blow to Clearwire. Shares are down 25% to $13.46.

Google In Play?

Of all the possible alliances, the most intriguing is a potential deal with Google. The Internet giant recently unveiled its Android mobile phone operating system and the Open Handset Alliance in an effort to push its philosophy of an open network, which would fit well with WiMax wireless technology.

Google also plans to participate in the upcoming Federal Communications Commission auction for wireless spectrum, which could give it the necessary spectrum to build a national network, although it has little interest in building one.

Enter Clearwire, which could handle the deployment and run the service for Google. In return, it would get the backing of a high-profile company and nationwide reach. Industry observers say that the expanded reach is critical when launching a new service, and that a local market approach won't cut it.

"If you build a national product, you need a powerful brand, or be willing to work with multiple partners with powerful brands who can attract a large customer base," said Rory Altman, a partner at consulting firm Altman Vilandrie & Co.

Google couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Wolff, on the call, said the company doesn't comment on any potential partnerships.

Cable, Satellite In The Mix

Clearwire also has a partnership with DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV) and EchoStar Communications Corp. (DISH) in which the satellite companies will bundle its television service with Clearwire's WiMax connection, giving it a pipe into the home.

An independent Internet pipe into the home is critical for the satellite companies because their major bundling partner, the telecommunications companies, are building their own TV service.

"Without (another Internet connection), they risk economic foreclosure in the 40% of the country where the telcos build fiber, as the only two broadband pipes available in that portion of the country will be tied - potentially inextricably - to competing video offerings," Craig Moffett, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. LLC, said in a note.

The satellite companies could strengthen its relationship with Clearwire and help it acquire more spectrum in the FCC auction. It attempted to buy spectrum in the last major auction a year ago, but was quickly outbid.

Both EchoStar and DirecTV say that they haven't changed their partnership with Clearwire, and declined to comment beyond that.

Sprint backing away from Clearwire opens up the possibility that the cable companies could get involved. The cable companies could work with Clearwire, but the more likely path is hooking up with Sprint. Moffett, while acknowledging it's quite speculative, said the cable companies could use WiMax to as the " answer to the wireless question."

A deal isn't without complications. The existing relationship - a cellular joint venture called Pivot - has been a disappointment, and Sprint recently stopped the expansion of its service. But the two parties remain close.

"Cable, despite the evident difficulties in getting their voice-based venture with Sprint off the ground, remains allied with Sprint," Moffett said.

Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) declined to comment. But on Wednesday, Chief Executive Glenn Britt told analysts the company was exploring different wireless technologies.

"There's an alphabet soup of this, but it's WiMax, 4G, et cetera, et cetera, and it's different flavors I don't think anybody in the whole world really understands exactly where the technology is going."

Comcast Corp. (CMCSK, CMCSA) also declined to comment.

Clearwire On Its Own

Clearwire could attempt to expand alone but would be relegated to a local player.

"Clearwire returns to more of a local market model," said Jonathan Schildkraut, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. "We're still seeing the early stages of that model coming together."

The company is deploying in smaller markets but still has few customers. In the third quarter, it added 49,000 subscribers to bring its base to 348,000. Because of the wireless spectrum it owns, it can only serve smaller markets.

Clearwire operates like a local wireless provider such as Leap Wireless International Inc. (LEAP), building from market to market in a slow expansion.

Sprint, meanwhile, said it is on track for a soft launch of its Xohm WiMax service, considered a longer range version of WiFi, by the end of the year, with a commercial launch expected next year. Spokeswoman Leigh Horner declined to comment beyond those plans, only saying that the company would further review its deployment next year.

The best move may be a reconciliation. Sprint and Clearwire fit together well both in terms of their complementary wireless spectrum and their experience with the technology, and they will likely still work together down the line. Sprint would have given Clearwire a national presence and depth in spectrum, as well as access to Sprint's backhaul network infrastructure.

"We are continuing to discuss with Sprint on how to best collaborate on building a WiMax network," Clearwire's Wolff said. "I can't say if a deal will be reached."

He noted that all of the reasons that brought the two parties together still remain, but that the company has to move forward.

"At the end of the day, Sprint and Clearwire will figure out ways to work it out," Schildkraut said. "I do not think that Sprint is going away in the WiMax world."

-By Roger Cheng, Dow Jones Newswires

One Companies Loss (Sprint) is another Companies Gain (Google)

2007-11-10T16:36:00.000-05:00

Will the split between Clearwire & Sprint be to the advantage of Clearwire...Will Google buy Clearwire or Partner with them...

Sprint and Clearwire have big holdings in 2.5 GHz , other countries outside of the USA are also looking at 2.5 GHz as the place for WiMAX deployment. So that means that equipment etc. could work (potentially) worldwide. That isn't the case with 700 MHz, where only the U.S. is deploying it (so far) for wireless services. Everyone else is still using 700 MHz for television.

Now Sprint and Google have announced they're NOT working together. This is where it was going:

Sprint network bandwidth, location detection and presence capabilities will be matched with Google’s popular communications suite – Google AppsTM – that combines the GmailTM, Google CalendarTM and Google TalkTM services. Customers will be able to experience a new form of interactive communications, high speed Internet browsing, local and location-centric services, and multimedia services including music, video, TV and on-demand products.

Google is spreading its bets, and sees global potential in WiMAX.

Here is the thinking driving this latest Google rumor across the blogosphere. Google is interested in the 700 MHz spectrum auction. Google is also interested in WiMax. Since Google was a part of the Sprint, Clearwire WiMax partnership, the apparent end of that relationship would indicate that Google is out in the cold when it comes to a WiMax partner.

WiMax Massacre: Sprint (S) And Clearwire (CLWR) Split-Up

2007-11-09T08:01:00.000-05:00

WiMax appears to be such a promising technology, at least on paper. It can send wireless broadband signals for miles from one base-station. If is faster than 3G, the core technology used for cellphone signals by AT&T (T) Wireless and Verizon Wireless.

WiMax can also send signals to PCs and hand-held devices. It is a broadband dream come true. It has the backing of tech giants including Samsung, Intel (INTC), and Motorola (MOT)

The only problem with WiMax is that it is not getting deployed around the US, at least not with any haste.

Sprint was to spend $5 billion to create a WiMax network that would reach 100 million people two years from now. WiMax start-up and recent IPO Clearwire (CLWR) was also building a network. It was probably going to need to spend as much as Sprint planned to. Both companies decided to link up and cooperate on the build-out and allow one another's customers to have free roaming privileges around the US.

But, Sprint and Clearwire broke off their agreement today. There has been pressure on Sprint to cut back capital spending as its core subscriber base has begun to drop. Sprint's recently departed CEO was a big WiMax champion.

Whither WiMax now?

For one, the Sprint plans are not dead. What becomes of them may depend on the thoughts of the company's yet-to-be-located new CEO.

Clearwire's stock is likely to take an awful beating on the news. But, Intel and others have a tremendous stake in the technology. The chip company is making products that could work in hundreds of millions of devices that would connect to a national WiMax network. Nokia (NOK), Samsung, and Mototola could bring in very large sums building the WiMax infrastructure and providing devices which will operate on it.

Look for a group of companies, perhaps lead by Intel, to put $2 billion or $3 billion into Clearwire. The company's market cap is only $3 billion, so the money might have to go in as a convertible preferred. That would probably give Intel and its partners de facto control of Clearwire.

But, it will take something at least a bit extreme to keep WiMax in the US on track.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Google G-Phone

2007-11-05T17:56:00.000-05:00

New G-Phone developed on Android open platform for mobile phones and the Open Handset Alliance.

Clearwire Introduces Its First High-Speed Wireless PC Card

2007-10-17T08:06:00.000-04:00

The Clearwire pc card Brings “True Broadband”™ Experience to People on the Go

KIRKLAND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ:CLWR) announced today the availability of the first Clearwire pc card through all of its distribution channels in its markets across the United States. Based on Clearwire’s guiding principles of simplicity, reliability, high speed and affordability the Clearwire pc card delivers a “True Broadband”™ experience unlike any other pc card available in the market place today.

“Building on the success of our residential broadband services, the Clearwire pc card offers consumers, business and enterprise customers the ability to experience all that the Internet has to offer while they are on the go anywhere within our coverage area,” said Ben Wolff, Clearwire chief executive officer. “As our coverage area continues to expand, the Clearwire pc card is ideal for the majority of the population that spends most of their time in their local communities. Utilizing Motorola’s pre-WiMAX OFDM technology coupled with more total spectrum devoted solely to data services in the markets in which we operate than any other carrier in the US enables the Clearwire pc card to deliver a unique user experience.”

The Clearwire pc card expands the company’s product portfolio to provide a personal broadband experience with greater portability through a smaller device, requiring only the power provided by the customer’s laptop or notebook computer. Utilizing Clearwire’s own broadband wireless network, the Clearwire pc card is designed to provide consumers a consistent user experience of up to 1.5 Mbps resulting in a smooth, seamless, robust Internet experience.

The Clearwire pc card is currently available in all Clearwire markets nationwide through Clearwire retail locations, as well with the company’s authorized local retailers and national partners, Best Buy and Circuit City. Customers can also purchase the Clearwire pc card online at www.clearwire.com or by calling 1-888-CLEARWIRE. Service plans for the Clearwire pc card start at $59.99 a month with a pc card lease fee of $6.99 a month.

WiMax Global Push, US Blip!

2007-10-10T14:37:00.000-04:00

The WiMax Global push is being tainted by the departure of the Sprint CEO in the US, however there is a lot of weight behind making WiMax work, there are big companies supporting WiMax worldwide. Nokia has agreed to build base stations and has a stake in offering handsets as well. Samsung has also joined the alliance of companies pushing the 4G technology.

Trading around $20, Clearwire has not been a big stock market success. Its shares got a nice lift to $35 when it announced its WiMax alliance with Sprint. But, the shares are off at $21. Clearwire's current debt load is modest at $655 million, but, if it has to go it alone, that will rise. The company's market cap is $3.4 billion.

Sprint's market cap is $51 billion. Its revenue run rate is about $10.5 billion a quarter. Operating income in the June quarter was $316 million. The company's debt load, at $21.7 billion, is fairly heavy.

Sprint and Clearwire are facing the challenge of AT&T (T) buying licenses from Aloha in the 700 MHz frequency covering 196 million people in 281 markets, including 72 of the top 100 metropolitan areas and all of the top 10 markets. The FCC is going to auction off more 700 MHz.spectrum in January. Access to this will provide wireless operators the ability to offer better wireless broadband which is tough competition for WiMax.

Kevin Martin and the FCC have allowed for part of the 700 band to be reserved for open access - which would allow the bandwidth to be used on any device, in any way.

Google has announced that they will be throwing in their bid at the FCC’s $4.6 billion reserve price, but only if the FCC agrees to Google’s expanded demands for open access. Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, says that if the FCC will agree to open applications, open devices, open services, and open networks (conditions outlined in Google’s previous proposal), then Google will play ball.

The auction could net Google a prime piece of spectrum real estate from which to launch their very own wireless broadband network.

Will Google invest in Clearwire?

Sprint and Clearwire can face the competition separately and probably take a severe beating. Or, they can put together one company, Perhaps Intel, Nokia, and Samsung would make strategic investment to help finance building the US WiMax network. Having a single company building instead of two would save hundreds of millions of dollars.

IPTV grows fivefold in two years

2007-10-09T17:17:00.001-04:00

The DSL Forum released IPTV penetration statistics this week that chart a fivefold increase in subscribers from 2005 to mid-2007. As of June 30, the worldwide subscriber base for IPTV services reached 8.2 million, up from nearly 1.5 million on the same date in 2005.

Europe accounts for more than 60 percent of subscriber base, with nearly 5 million households hooked up to IPTV, half of them in France. The Asia Pacific region is next, with nearly 2.2 million. Hong Kong is the anchor there, with 938,000 subscribers. The Americas combined have just over 1 million IPTV subscribers.

The research was carried out by Point-Topic, a research firm in London. Point-Topic senior analyst John Bosnell said content and "clear bundle pricing" attract subscribers to IPTV. It also helps that the technology has cleared the tipping point.

DoCoMo, Acca grab 5 Net firms in WiMAX bid-Nikkei

2007-10-09T10:30:00.000-04:00

TOKYO, NTT DoCoMo Inc (9437.T: Quote, Profile, Research), Japan's biggest mobile operator, and ADSL provider Acca Networks Co (3764.Q: Quote, Profile, Research) have signed up five Internet service providers to their WiMAX joint venture in a bid to launch ultra high-speed wireless Internet access, the Nikkei newspaper said on Saturday.

The firms include Nifty Corp (3828.T: Quote, Profile, Research), NEC Biglobe Ltd., So-net Entertainment Corp (3789.T: Quote, Profile, Research), FreeBit Co (3843.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Asahi Net Inc (3834.T: Quote, Profile, Research), who will take stakes in the venture if DoCoMo and Acca win a WiMAX licence, the business daily said.

WiMAX, or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, allows high-speed and cheap Internet access and file downloads from laptops, phones or other mobile devices over greater distances than previous technologies.

Japan's telecommunications regulator plans to allocate 2.5 GHz band frequencies to two companies.

The DoCoMo-Acca group faces competition from three other bidders: personal handyphone system service provider Willcom Inc.; a group led by Japan's No. 2 mobile carrier KDDI Corp (9433.T: Quote, Profile, Research); and an alliance between No. 3 operator Softbank Corp (9984.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and eAccess Ltd (9427.T: Quote, Profile, Research) Ltd.

AT&T To Buy Wireless Spectrum From Aloha Partners For $2.5 Billion

2007-10-09T10:21:00.000-04:00

AT&T Inc.'s (T) board approved the purchase of wireless spectrum licenses from Delware limited partnership Aloha Partners L.P. for about $2.5 billion in cash.

The telecommunications holding company said the spectrum licenses cover 196 million people in the 700 MHz frequency band.

The company said the deal enhances its spectrum position by adding 12 MHz of spectrum covering 196 million people in 281 markets. The spectrum covers many major metropolitan areas, including 72 of the top 100 and all of the top 10 markets in the U.S.

AT&T expects to close the deal within six to nine months.

Virgin Mobile USA files for IPO

2007-09-26T15:11:00.000-04:00

Virgin Mobile USA has filed for an initial public offering, valued at as much as $467.5 million. The IPO will float 42.8 percent of the youth-focused MVNO, making available 27.5 million Class A common shares at $15 to $17 each--while Virgin Mobile USA plans to sell about 25.6 million shares, stockholders Best Buy and Sprint Ventures will liquidate an additional 1.95 million. Underwritten by Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, the offering will drop Virgin Mobile's stake in the venture from 47 percent to 35.7 percent and trim Sprint's stake from 47 percent to 17.2 percent.

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, proceeds are earmarked to repay debt and for general purposes. For the six-month period ending in June, Virgin Mobile USA reported adjusted earnings of $29.3 million on revenue of $667 million. The MVNO plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "VM."

Clearwire Launches Service in Spain

2007-09-13T23:45:00.000-04:00

NEW YORK - Wireless Internet service provider Clearwire Corp. said Thursday it launched its Instant Internet, or "Instanet" service in Seville, marking its entry into Spain.

Clearwire (nasdaq: CLWR - news - people ) said its network in Seville covers more than 300,000 households. It employs radio signals using a secure or licensed spectrum, which are transmitted from a tower to a small wireless modem that connects users' computers to the Internet.

Spain follows Ireland and Belgium among European countries in which Clearwire has launched its service.

Shares of Kirkland, Wash.-based Clearwire rose 47 cents, or 2 percent, to $23.46. The company was founded by cell phone pioneer Craig McCaw and went public in March.

ICO and Clearwire to Conduct Mobile Video Trial

2007-09-10T10:26:00.000-04:00

Initiative Will Focus on Feasibility of Delivering Mobile Video From Satellite as Part of Mobile Triple Play

RESTON, Va. & KIRKLAND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Limited (NASDAQ:ICOG) and Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ:CLWR) today announced a joint agreement to collaborate on one of the industry’s first mobile video trials. The collaborative effort is at the forefront of the intersection between two-way wireless broadband and satellite connectivity, and will focus on increasing the value and cost effectiveness of delivering an advanced interactive mobile video service to consumers. In addition to testing mobile video broadcast, the trial will also examine the feasibility of utilizing Clearwire’s 2.5 GHz spectrum and ICO’s 2.0 GHz spectrum more efficiently. The ICO trial with Clearwire is expected to begin in early 2008 in Raleigh, North Carolina, and ICO is also planning a similar trial in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Our next generation wireless personal broadband networks are built to deliver data, voice and video over a single network,” said Scott Richardson, chief strategy officer for Clearwire. “Working with ICO to trial an interactive mobile video element that can potentially enhance our service offering not only in areas where we don’t intend to build our own network, but that can also potentially enhance the use of infrastructure and spectrum where our coverage overlaps, makes a lot of sense.”

“Mobile two-way video, advanced interactive navigation, plus emergency calling and messaging becomes an even more compelling value proposition when integrated with a wireless broadband network such as Clearwire’s,” added Tim Bryan, chief executive officer for ICO. “We are well positioned to be the first provider of next-generation mobile satellite services, and we have a clearly differentiated offering by leveraging integrated satellite and terrestrial networks to deliver advanced consumer mobility services.”

For the trial, ICO will integrate its Mobile Interactive Media (MIM) suite of services with the Clearwire broadband network. ICO MIM is a converged mobile media service which delivers a wide variety of consumer entertainment and communications services, all based on ICO’s next-generation satellite and terrestrial wireless communication capabilities. For the trial, ICO MIM will provide multiple channels of high-quality mobile video to large-screen user devices. Alcatel-Lucent has been chosen to supply the system architecture and design based on mobile multimedia DVB-SH open standard, and Hughes Network Systems has been tapped to provide the device as well as the interactive elements based upon the proven GMR standard.

About Clearwire

Clearwire, founded in October 2003 by telecom pioneer Craig O. McCaw, is a provider of simple, fast, portable and reliable wireless high-speed Internet service. Clearwire customers connect to the Internet using licensed spectrum, thus eliminating the confines of traditional cable or phone lines. Headquartered in Kirkland, Wash., the company launched its first market in August 2004 and now offers service in 16 states across the U.S. as well as in Europe and Mexico. For more information, visit www.clearwire.com.

About ICO

ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Limited is a next-generation satellite communications company based in Reston, Virginia. ICO is developing an advanced hybrid system, combining both satellite and terrestrial communications capabilities, in order to offer wireless voice, data, video, and Internet services on mobile and portable devices. For more information, visit www.ico.com.

A World of My Own (AWOMO) -Dubbed the iTunes of Online Gaming

2007-09-09T11:30:00.001-04:00

Your chance to win a ticket providing free access and games for life. Launching fully later this year, AWOMO will bring a huge choice of the world's best games to gamers in the UK - making them all playable within minutes rather than hours.

The games are set within a 3D virtual world, which will become home to the world's games community by offering hundreds of streamed games and many special features, including live voice chat and high profile competitions to win big prizes.

A limited number of customers can register from today to take part in the Beta testing - to explore the AWOMO world, feedback their experiences to the experts developing it and play free games from some of the world's top publishers.

As special test pilots they will have access to games from some of the top developers and publishers around the world - normally only available in the shops.

When the test is over, if you have completed the test, participants who registered with GAME will be entered into the final draw - and the lucky Golden Ticket winner will get a free lifetime subscription to AWOMO - granting them free games forever!

Everyone who completes the testing will receive offers of up to one month's free membership, plus an exclusive GAME.co.uk "virtual" item for their avatar to forever identify them as one of the first original AWOMO members, and to claim special advantages.

This offer is limited so anyone wanting to be one of the fortunate few should register now simply by via the link .

DoCoMo creates WiMAX joint venture

2007-09-04T13:09:00.000-04:00

Japanese wireless giant NTT DoCoMo announced a joint venture with ACCA Networks to deploy WiMAX technology in the 2.5 GHz band in Japan. The partnership was necessary because the Japanese government has banned existing 3G operators, such as DoCoMo, from getting any rights to the 2.5 GHz spectrum. The government wants to encourage new market entrants.

ACCA Networks will be in charge of overall management of ACCA Wireless, such as operation of high-speed wired infrastructure and sales of broadband wireless services. DoCoMo will help construct the wireless access network and provide technical assistance. DoCoMo's stake in ACCA Wireless will be limited to no more than one-third, according to government stipulations, since DoCoMo already offers 3G.

For more about the partnership between DoCoMo and ACCA Networks:
- read this release

Related articles:
- Motorola, Japan's Softbank to trial WiMAX
- NextWave to be only foreign carrier in Japan
- Alvarion's position in mobile WiMAX grows stronger

Why Is Wall Street Punishing Clearwire?

2007-09-01T15:59:00.000-04:00

Posted by Richard Martin, Aug 31, 2007 05:54 PM

It would be unethical of me to offer stock tips in this space, so I'll just phrase this as a question: Why is Wall Street hammering Clearwire Corp.? After reaching a high of $33.30 on July 19th, the share price for the WiMax network startup has declined 37%. And on Tuesday the stock dropped 7% "on no news whatsoever," as The Motley Fool put it.

Actually, there was news that day related to Clearwire, and it was good. EarthLink announced that it is slashing half its workforce and effectively abandoning the municipal Wi-Fi market. Since EarthLink was the highest-profile company contracting to build citywide wireless networks, its exit has thrown the whole future of muni Wi-Fi into doubt.

How's that good for Clearwire? Well let's number the ways.

1. The longer cities wait on building Wi-Fi networks, the more likely they are to just wait forget about Wi-Fi (which is essentially a short-range networking technology) altogether and focus on WiMax. It's amazing, says Carmi Levy, senior vice president for strategic consulting at AR Communications, that "not one person in these city IT departments was asking 'Gee, should we be waiting for WiMax?'"

2. The pullback in muni Wi-Fi doesn't eliminate the demand for widespread wireless networks; it underlines the superior qualities of mobile WiMax systems of the sort that Clearwire is building. WiMax "changes the way people use the laptop," Sriram Viswanathan, who heads up Intel's WiMax strategy, told Reuters earlier this week. Ubiquitous, pervasive high-speed wireless access is still a desirable goal and a workable business model. It's just going to take a bit longer than expected, till network builders like Clearwire (which now says it covers 43 U.S. markets) and Sprint Nextel get their systems fully deployed.

3. EarthLink will almost certainly seek a buyer for its existing Wi-Fi networks, at a bargain price. The value of those systems is not primarily in the equipment, or even in the subscribers: it's in the mounting rights on city light posts and tall buildings. "Imagine a scenario where Clearwire or Sprint built a Wi-Fi underlayment as the entrance ramp to the mobile Wimax network," Ron Sege, CEO of Wi-Fi gear vendor Tropos Networks, told me this week. "You won't need the 40 or 50 cells per square mile that are common in Wi-Fi networks, but you'll need at least 15 or 20 in the WiMax world. In that case those mounting rights to streetlamps become valuable, and [an EarthLink fire sale] could be very opportune."

It's really not that hard to figure why Wall Street is fleeing from Clearwire (Sprint, which also saw its stock dip sharply on Tuesday, is essentially flat for the week). In the wake of debacles like the Google-EarthLink San Francisco network project (which collapsed this week), anything that has the words "wireless" and "municipal" and "networks" in the same sentence looks like a loser. It's the EarthLink contagion. I'm predicting now that it won't last -- but you didn't hear me say that.

OpenTV Defines the Television Experience at IBC 2007

2007-08-29T17:11:00.000-04:00

Showcases Solutions That Make Digital Television Services a Reality

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OpenTV Corp. , a leading provider of solutions for the delivery of advanced digital television and cross platform interactive services, defines the television experience with a showcase of its latest solutions at the International Broadcaster Conference (IBC) on stand 1.281 at the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam, Netherlands, from September 7 to 11, 2007.

OpenTV will demonstrate how its proven solutions provide the foundation for the new television experience with innovative user interfaces, on-demand delivery, advanced graphics, home media and customer relationship and transaction management.

"OpenTV is building on its track record for both innovation and delivery," said Alan Guggenheim, OpenTV's President and CEO. "As an industry leader, we are focused on delivering innovations that address our customers' critical time-to-market issues. Our new solutions, designed to accelerate service adoption, will change the digital television landscape ultimately enabling network operators the flexibility to deliver compelling and relevant services quickly, cost-effectively and seamlessly with a unified user experience across their entire customer base."

"We are passionate about delivering high quality, creative solutions that consistently meet customer demands, while providing a foundation for rolling out cost-effective new services," added Mike Ivanchenko, OpenTV's SVP of Worldwide Sales.

    OpenTV's IBC showcase will include:
   -- Live services from existing OpenTV satellite, cable and IPTV customers
   -- OpenTV's proven high definition PVR solution
   -- Advanced user interface designs and next generation HD user experiences
   -- Innovative on-demand solutions including push and pull VOD
   -- OpenTV's industry leading HTML browser solutions
   -- Customer relationship and transaction management systems designed for
      television
   -- Integrated mobile solutions with OpenTV's partner weComm

Senior executives, sales and product marketing staff from OpenTV will be on site for meetings, demonstrations, and discussions.

About OpenTV

OpenTV is one of the world's leading providers of solutions for the delivery of advanced digital television and cross-platform interactive services. The company's software has been integrated in over 92 million digital set-top boxes and television around the world. The software enables enhanced program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive shopping, interactive and addressable advertising, games and gaming and a variety of consumer care and communication applications. For more information, please visit http://www.opentv.com.

Samsung to build mobile Internet network in New York

2007-08-27T14:23:00.000-04:00

SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday that it will build a mobile Internet network in New York to expand its homegrown technology in the United States, one of the world's largest communications markets.

혻 혻 "Recently, we received a request from Sprint Nextel Corp. for the establishment of a WiBro network in New York," Choi Gee-sung, head of Samsung's telecommunications business, told reporters at the 4G Forum currently underway in central Seoul. However, he didn't give details on timetables.

혻혻 WiBro, one of the major 4G communications standards, is an improved version of WiMax that enables high-speed Internet connectivity even when a user is in motion. WiMax refers to a wireless Internet technology developed by the world's largest chipmaker Intel Corp.

혻혻 Samsung, a global tech giant, and other Korean companies hold related core technologies.

혻 혻 In August 2006, Samsung signed a deal with Sprint Nextel, Motorola Inc. and Intel to cooperate in developing and commercializing WiBro in the U.S., one of the world's largest communications markets.

혻혻 It has built the WiBro network in five major cities and regions there including Washington D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston, Samsung officials said.

혻혻 Samsung expects that the number of its WiBro network users in the U.S. will exceed 100 million next year and it will grow to 140 million in 2009 and 170 million in 2010, respectively.

혻 혻 "Within three or four years, we will be able to generate profits from our network business including WiBro," Choi said, adding his company will raise investment for its network business from 120 billion won (US$128 million) a year to 160 billion going forward.

혻혻 Meanwhile, Samsung has held the 4G Forum every year since 2003, aimed at facilitating the emergence of new communications markets and strengthening its market superiority in the sector. This year's event kicked off Monday for a two-day run with around 130 experts from academia, business, and the governments of 26 countries expected to be on hand.

Google to launch gPhone in September

2007-08-27T13:09:00.000-04:00

Google is reportedly closing in on the worldwide launch of its branded handset, the so-called gPhone. According to Business Standard, the search giant is currently in discussions with Indian mobile operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar to debut the device in early September. Sources close to Google say a simultaneous North American and European gPhone launch is expected, with the company currently waiting for federal regulatory approval before rolling out the handset in the U.S market. The Bharti Airtel and Vodafone negotiations are said to encompass mobile data, IM and search solutions as well.

Reports suggest Google plans to invest roughly $8 billion on the gPhone and related mobile initiatives. The Wall Street Journal previously reported Google invested "hundreds of millions of dollars" in the gPhone project, and entered negotiations with T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless.

During a keynote appearance last week at the Progress & Freedom Foundation's Aspen Summit, Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt acknowledged the company would "probably" participate in the FCC's upcoming 700 MHz spectrum. Google had said that it would potentially bid up to $4.6 billion in the auction if the FCC would enable open applications, open devices, open wholesale services and open network access.

For more on the gPhone launch:
- read this Business Standard article

Related Articles:
Google in handset talks with operators
Google files mobile advertising patent
Google developing mobile content search
KDDI launches branded Google e-mail
The Google Phone: I want to believe

Clearwire's WiMAX-Lite

2007-08-24T08:43:00.000-04:00

Imagine having Net access almost anywhere. Clearwire has a new service that comes close to providing just that

by Jay Greene

If you're fortysomething or older, like me, you probably remember the thrill of getting your first home dial-up connection to the Net. Then came broadband, which was pure magic. And then Wi-Fi, which delivered fast Web access throughout the home, as well as in cafés and airport lounges. Now I'm completely spoiled. I want my Internet wherever I happen to be.

An emerging technology called WiMAX aims to indulge that craving. It will eventually provide Web browsing speeds many times faster than Wi-Fi and a gigantic range that will keep you permanently connected to the Net—at home, in your car, in a city park, or on the beach. The new WiMAX standard won't be ready for prime time until early next year. But you can get a taste of what's coming if you sign up with Clearwire (CLWR), a Bellevue (Wash.) startup from Craig McCaw that's available in 43 markets including Seattle, where I live. This WiMAX-lite service is disappointing in some ways. But Clearwire will start upgrading subscribers to the real thing next year, and it is also planning to roll out a nationwide WiMAX network in a joint venture with Sprint Nextel (S). If it addresses a few early glitches, it's bound to have tremendous appeal.

Location, Location, Location

To use Clearwire's current service (ranging from $30 to $50 a month), you just set up a nine-inch-high modem and plug it into the Ethernet jack on your PC. This one box is all you need for full Net access—say goodbye to DSL or cable-modem charges and wires—and it will work anywhere in the city, as long as you have a power outlet for the modem. No more searching for a Wi-Fi hotspot: The signals are everywhere.

Well, almost everywhere. In this proto-WiMAX system, there are dark spots, and my home at the bottom of a gully, surrounded by hills, trees, and other houses, happens to be in one. A row of five lights on top of the modem indicates signal strength, and the best I've ever gotten at home is two out of five. Two lights turns out to be fine for e-mailing and other basic tasks. But video and graphics-rich Web sites are sluggish, so check with Clearwire before making a commitment.

Things picked up when I tested the technology at work on the 19th floor of a Seattle office building. I got five lights out of five, and the experience was just like surfing the Web on my high-speed cable connection at home. Out of the dark zone, Clearwire was fast enough for me to catch episodes of the British car show Top Gear on YouTube (GOOG) and listen to a buddy's guitar music on MySpace (NWS). And I had no problem using Clearwire's voice-over-Internet phone service, which carries an additional monthly charge. There has been some subscriber grumbling about Clearwire's restricting network speed for heavy users during peak hours, but I haven't had that problem.

On the Road

The next step was to take Clearwire around town. This is a bit of a nuisance because you have to lug the modem with you and find a power outlet—or purchase a separate car adapter and a 12-oz. battery pack.

I didn't bother with that. Instead, I took my gear to a nearby Starbucks, plugged it in, and enjoyed surfing the Web without having to pay the usual Wi-Fi fee. I did have to tweak the settings on my laptop to turn off the radio that receives wireless signals so it would default to the Clearwire service—but that's not a big deal. And in the next few months, Clearwire will sell a card that slips into a laptop to receive its signal, so you won't need to tote the modem.

Clearwire isn't all it can be, especially if you live in a dark zone. But for folks who want to get out from under their cable or telephone company, it offers a dependable alternative that will get much better when real WiMAX finally arrives.

OpenTV Announces New Customer Win in Israel

2007-08-16T10:26:00.000-04:00

OpenTV Participate(TM) Solution to Power Unique Mobile Interactive Experience for Broadcast of Game Show '1 vs 100'

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OpenTV Corp. , a leading provider of solutions for the delivery of advanced television and cross-platform interactive services, announced today that its OpenTV Participate solution will power live, synchronized mobile interactive services for the international hit TV game show "1 vs 100" broadcast by Reshet, Israel's largest broadcaster.

The recent adoption of the OpenTV Participate system allows Reshet to provide a powerful, new interactive viewing experience to its audience, enabling viewers to actively participate in the "1 vs 100" game show using mobile phones.

"We are very excited to partner with Reshet on our new mobile interactive solution. It offers unprecedented flexibility for broadcasters and producers alike, as well as an exciting and unique interactive experience for viewers," said Alan Guggenheim, President and CEO of OpenTV. "This latest extension to the OpenTV Participate platform is part of an ongoing initiative at OpenTV to deliver the right content, at the right time to the right device. The power of OpenTV Participate is that it fully embraces the idea that viewers can participate and transact via multiple platforms," concluded Guggenheim.

During the show, a user friendly graphical interface, developed by the Vario Group, a Tel Aviv based Internet and mobile solutions provider, will display synchronized content enabling viewers to select their answer to the actual questions presented on the TV show. The mobile application, which works on both Brew and Java enabled phones, has already been developed and ported by Vario to the majority of mobile handsets in Israel.

"Reshet's goal is to lead Israeli TV into the new media age," said Reshet Deputy CEO Ilan Tovyahu. "Our strategy is to find and adopt technologies that can help us expand our offering beyond the traditional TV viewing experience, and we are happy to be able to partner with companies like OpenTV and Vario. We hope this is just the first such experience we offer our viewers," added Tovyahu. "The user interface created by OpenTV and Vario is so simple and intuitive that anyone can use it; the system offers us a very flexible platform for creating a seamless interactive experience with multiple new opportunities for viewers to get involved."

OpenTV Participate is a server-based system which can process several thousand transactions per second, delivering a personalized interactive experience to viewers who will be able to compete against the studio player, and each other, simultaneously. Powerful competition logic allows points to be allocated for each correct answer and provides viewers with 'on-the-fly' audience response statistics and personalized score and answer results for each response. Prizes can be set in the system, which automatically selects the winner, ensuring a fair process that can be independently audited if required. The system also creates a unique account for each user, allowing the broadcaster to contact winners as well as track weekly retention and usage statistics.

In addition to the synchronized interactive services, OpenTV Participate also allows Reshet to present other value-added content, such as trivia, fun facts, sponsor messages and interactive advertising, to the audience at various intervals during the show and commercial breaks.

About OpenTV

OpenTV is one of the world's leading providers of solutions for the delivery of digital and interactive television. The company's software has been integrated in over 92 million digital set-top boxes and digital televisions around the world. The software enables enhanced program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive shopping, interactive and addressable advertising, games and gaming and a variety of consumer care and communication applications. For more information, please visit http://www.opentv.com.

About Reshet

Reshet Company, a communication entity, which operates and manages Channel 2 broadcasts ever since the Channel was established in 1993. The Company's new facilities, located in the Hi-Tech compound of Ramat Hachayal in Tel Aviv, include advanced studios; world class sophisticated broadcast room and a school for the various television-industry professions.

About Vario

Vario Group operates several lines of business, dealing with seed capital investments and serving as a "technological incubator." The Group also provides various services in the high tech arena including software development in fields of Web and mobile. Moreover, Vario Media manages various products in all three media platforms: Internet, television and mobile.

Virgin America partners with AirCell for WiFi

2007-08-14T11:45:00.002-04:00

Virgin America, which flew its inaugural flight last week, has said AirCell will be offering WiFi connectivity in its planes once the airline receives regulatory approval, according to Zeni Jardin from Boing Boing. She took the Virgin flight last week from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The planes are wired. For every three seats, there are two 110-volt outlets, USB ports, two WiFi access points on board in the front and rear and Ethernet at every seat that connects passengers to a plane-wide network. EV-DO technology is planned for transmitting data back to the ground, which AirCell's technology does. AirCell won the exclusive rights in June 2006 to the air-to-ground spectrum that will enable it to provide wireless broadband services on airplanes. The company announced an agreement with American Airlines to test broadband services with passengers across the U.S. beginning in 2008. AirCell was a FierceBroadbandWireless Fierce 15 winner.

For more about Virgin America's plans with AirCell:
- read this blog post at Boing Boing

OpenTV's High Definition Personal Video Recorder and Push Video-On-Demand Solutions Selected by MultiChoice South Africa

2007-08-14T11:43:00.000-04:00

OpenTV to act as System Integrator for the MCSA upgrade to OpenTV Core2(TM) and OpenTV PVR2(TM)

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OpenTV Corp. , a leading provider of solutions for the delivery of advanced digital television and cross-platform interactive services, announced today that MultiChoice South Africa (MCSA), the pioneer of multi-channel television in Africa and a Naspers group subsidiary, selected OpenTV as a key partner for the roll-out of advanced digital television services on their DStv platform.

"OpenTV is focused on developing innovative solutions that will help operators migrate to the vision of an integrated video and media world where end users have easy access and great entertainment interacting with their content," said Alan Guggenheim, President and CEO, OpenTV. "Our ongoing relationship with MCSA demonstrates that our solutions are proven, rapid to deploy and provide the functionality operators need to support new and innovative services to enhance their offering."

MCSA is investigating high definition personal video recorders (PVRs) with OpenTV Core2 middleware and OpenTV PVR2 software, in combination with Irdeto's content security for digital TV. OpenTV will act as system integrator for the project. The Push Video-On-Demand service will allow MCSA to broadcast a selection of television and entertainment content directly on the hard disk of set-top boxes for immediate access by subscribers. The advanced service will provide MCSA's subscribers over time, with a range of interactive TV content, Personal Video Recorder (PVR), video on demand (VOD), and high definition (HD) services.

"OpenTV has been one of our key partners in our efforts to offer advanced services and improve the overall user experience," said Nolo Letele, CEO MultiChoice South Africa. "We are excited about the new applications supported by OpenTV Core2 and OpenTV PVR2, as well as the other applications and upgrades that will provide customers with new ways to enjoy their video services."

Startup Hopes To Challenge Apple's iTunes Through Google Ads

2007-08-11T14:44:00.000-04:00

NEW YORK (AP)--Add gBox Inc. to the growing list of online-music services hoping to chip away at Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iTunes's dominance.

The Cupertino, Calif., startup was forced out of a stealth mode when Universal Music Group announced late Thursday it would test sales of some digital music without the customary copy-protection technology.

Under the program, gBox will get referrals through ads Universal will buy through search leader Google Inc. (GOOG), gBox Chief Executive Tammy Artim said Friday.

Google will get standard advertising fees rather than a cut of sales under the arrangement. The ads, which would appear when a Google user searches for specific terms such as the name of an artist, will direct the user to gBox.

The arrangement with Universal and gBox is separate from Google's music-search service, which directs users to online music stores when they search for specific albums or artists. The company says it doesn't get paid for such referrals, and it doesn't restrict links to a single retailer.

Google, which has said it has no plans to create a music store of its own, described the new arrangement as strictly an advertising relationship.

Songs at gBox cost 99 cents each. For the Universal songs that are part of the test, gBox will offer an MP3 version free of copy-protection technology known as digital-rights management, or DRM. A DRM-enabled version will be available at the same price.

DRM technology is designed to block or set limits on copying and CD burning.

Although DRM can help stem illegal copying, it can also frustrate consumers by limiting the type of device or number of computers on which they can listen.

Copy-protected songs sold through Apple's market-leading iTunes store generally won't play on devices other than its popular iPod digital player, and iPods won't play DRM-enabled songs bought at rival music stores, including gBox.

Although many independent music labels have for years sold their tunes without copy restrictions, the major recording companies have resisted.

Earlier this year, Britain's EMI Group PLC (EMIPY) became the first of the major labels to embrace DRM-free tunes, letting Apple sell versions of songs with higher audio quality and without any built-in copying hurdles.

The test by Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, while only encompassing a portion of its catalog, is significant because Universal is the world's largest recording company. That raises the prospect that other major labels could follow.

Universal Music will make DRM-free songs available Aug. 21 to Jan. 31. Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), Best Buy Co. (BBY) and RealNetworks Inc.'s (RNWK) Rhapsody are among the other retailers selling such tracks, but only gBox will get Universal's Google referrals.

Although gBox won't formally launch until Aug. 21, it already has a site with music from Sony Corp. (SNE) and independent labels. Artim said the company has negotiated deals with other labels, but couldn't disclose them until the launch.

She also said gBox was working with other major labels to sell DRM-free tracks like Universal's, but such talks are ongoing.

GBox now works only with Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Internet Explorer browser on Windows-based computers, but Firefox support will come by the launch date, Artim said.

It won't be compatible with Apple's Macintosh computers, however. Even though DRM-free tracks can play on any computer, the DRM versions won't, and gBox didn't want to confuse customers, Artim said.

GBox also is developing a "wish list" feature - software code that users can place on their blogs or social-networking profiles at News Corp.'s (NWS) MySpace, Facebook and other sites. Friends visiting the blog or profile can buy a song for that user through gBox.

In relying on referrals through Google and social-networking sites, gBox is taking a different approach to marketing. Other retailers tend to drive music buyers to the store's home page to discover new songs and make purchases there.

"Instead of doing marketing and (advertising on) billboards on Highway 101 to go to gBox," Artim said, "we want to take advantage of the viral element that has been so successful for companies in the past."

Google pledges $4.6B if 700 MHz is "open"

2007-07-23T13:10:00.000-04:00

Google finally put its money where its mouth is, pledging to bid a minimum of $4.6 billion in the 700 MHz auction if the Federal Communications Commission agrees to set aside some spectrum for open access--that is open access the way Google envisions it to be. Earlier this month, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin leaked his draft order for the 700 MHz band. The proposal would allow a level of open access on two 11 MHz blocks in the 700 MHz band. Martin wants any device and application to be able to run on these networks, but he has apparently stopped short from requiring the winning bidder to open its network up on a wholesale basis. That wasn't good enough for Google. It is attaching stipulations to this $4.6-billion potential bid, saying it will only bid if the FCC enables open applications, open devices, open wholesale services and open network access.

In an interview with Dow Jones, Chris Sacca, head of special initiatives at Google, said Google isn't interested in selling service directly to consumers itself, which runs counter to its business plan. Rather, it wants to oversee construction of a new national wireless network and lease out access to third parties. Who might that be?

Meanwhile, after a few days of rumors that AT&T might sue the FCC over the proposed open access rules for the 700 MHz spectrum auction, the carrier surprisingly said it supports Martin's plan.

Check the FierceWireless website later for more on my views about Google's moves in the 700 MHz debate. Website

For more about Google's $4.6-billion commitment:
- take a look at this article from Dow Jones
- check out the letter Google CEO Eric Schmidt sent to the FCC
- look at the official Google blog

IPhone Turns Focus On Greater Wi-Fi Use By Handsets

2007-07-12T23:45:00.000-04:00

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- The Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone, which has generated more than enough buzz for itself, is also corralling a lot of attention for wireless fidelity, or wi-fi, networks.

Already in iPhone's short life span, carriers are reporting greater demands on wi-fi as consumers seek a faster connection to the Web. The technology is a double-edged sword for carriers: It provides a short-term benefit by reducing the strain on their cellular networks, but could potentially wrest away their control over Internet service as networks expand. Sporadic availability and an unclear business model have kept consumer adoption muted, but that is poised to change.

"The iPhone is giving the industry a big shot in the arm in terms of imagination over different business plans," said Ron Sege, chief executive of network equipment maker Tropos Networks Inc.

More than laptops - the primary device used to connect to the wi-fi network - cellphones will be the primary driver for the adoption of citywide wi-fi networks. Some devices, like the iPhone, use the wi-fi hotspots as a means to access the Internet, but other true dual-band handsets are designed to make voice calls that can be seamlessly switched between the wi-fi and cellular networks.

So far, only a few devices boast that capability - around 1.9 million around the world - but that total should grow to 186 million by 2010, according to ABI Research analyst Philip Solis.

As more municipalities push for blanket wi-fi coverage - going beyond the hotspots offered by local business - the debate over their deployments gets increasingly tangled by a messy mixture of government, corporate and consumer interests. Local governments see wi-fi as a way to generate revenue while ensuring poor areas receive access to a high-speed Internet connection. Internet providers such as the telecommunications and cable companies view it as a potential threat.

Yet deployments are happening in the face of this conflict. Small towns across the country have installed municipal wi-fi networks that can be accessed anywhere.

"They say that a mayor can't get elected without a wi-fi strategy," said Karen Hanley, senior director of marketing for trade group Wi-Fi Alliance.

On a larger scale, Philadelphia is working with EarthLink Inc. (ELNK) to build a citywide network. But both it and San Francisco have faced delays in their rollouts. Some towns, meanwhile, have found that its wi-fi network has drawn disappointingly low interest, and have struggled to achieve a return on their investment.

Local governments hope that both residents and visitors alike will be more inclined to pay for wi-fi once dual-band handsets become more prevalent. Their portability brings true mobile Internet access compared with laptops, which are relatively stationary.

Some carriers and cable providers have felt threatened by the prospect that cities would offer their own access to the Web. Some have leveled criticism over the economics of such a business model.

"We're still looking at those networks," said Dan Yost, head of product management for Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q). "We haven't yet found an opportunity that makes sense for us to get involved in."

But things are changing. Yost said he doesn't consider city wi-fi networks a threat, since a physical line connection will always be faster and more reliable. On Monday, AT&T Inc. (T) waded into the business with a 3-square-mile deployment of wi-fi coverage to Riverside, Calif.

Near-Term Benefits

For now, wi-fi coverage is primarily accessed through "hotspots" of limited ranges and are used by hotels, restaurants and coffee shops as a way to retain customers. Many of the wi-fi hotspots are supported by big carriers such as AT&T and Deutsche Telekom AG's (DT) T-Mobile USA, as well as smaller private companies such as Wayport Inc. and Boingo Wireless Inc. They typically deal with the upkeep of the networks and take most of the revenue.

Last year, the worldwide hotspot business generated $1.49 billion in revenue, and should more than double by 2012, according to Solis.

The iPhone's slick browsing capabilities have people wandering around town looking for hotspots. Tropos' Sege said that in the week and a half since the iPhone hit the market, an estimated 10,000 unique devices have accessed wi-fi networks his company supports. "People are finding those networks with the iPhone," he said.

T-Mobile has been aggressive in pushing wi-fi as an alternative network for handsets. The company, which supports 8,500 hotspots across the U.S., last month unveiled a service to bring those access points into the home.

The service, called HotSpot @Home, allows for dual-band cellphones to switch networks, so customers wouldn't burn "anytime" minutes while at home. T-Mobile benefits through additional revenue and the chance to move some of its call traffic off of its cellular network and onto the wi-fi one, which is powered by the subscriber's separate Internet service provider.

By reducing the cellular traffic, T-Mobile can reduce the cost of running its network, which is among the higher expenses for a wireless carrier.

"The more they are using wi-fi, the less they are using the cellular network," Solis said. "That reduces congestion on the cellular base stations, and allows them to put off adding capacity until a later date."

AT&T, meanwhile, is using its wi-fi network as another arrow in its quiver of services used to protect its customer base. Last week, AT&T said it would offer free access to its 10,000 hotspots to customers who subscribe to either of the top two tiers of its high-speed Internet service.

Not everyone is jumping on the wi-fi bandwagon. Verizon Communications Inc. ( VZ) shut down its New York area hotspots in 2005 due to little interest and the need for costly upgrades.

"We concluded it wasn't getting a lot of use," said Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe. "Putting money up for an upgrade wasn't justified."

The company may have been a victim of bad timing - wi-fi was just getting its legs when the network was taken down.

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) has won the contract to build out a WiMax network in France

2007-07-12T23:32:00.000-04:00

"Alcatel-Lucent will equip the planned sites in the Ile de France and Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur regions by mid 2009."

The win is nice for Alcatel, but a big secondary winner is Sprint (S). The company is betting a great deal of its future on the WiMax network it plans to have up and running in the US by the end of 2008. The network will cost $3 billion, and is being supported by WiMax champions Intel (INTC) and Motorola (MOT) who have also put money into WiMax IPO Clearwire (CLWR).

The Sprint plan to cover an area that will reach 100 million people in the US has a number of skeptics. WiMax is untried across such a large region. It has been built out in several big cities including Seoul, but whether it can be knitted together to cover a regional that would be a large portion of the US is still open to question.

OpenTV Launches 'Rapid Porting Program'

2007-06-27T21:07:00.000-04:00

Program to Focus on Faster Time to Market, Lower Porting Costs and Reduced Operational Expenses

SAN FRANCISCO, June 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OpenTV Corp. (NASDAQ: OPTV) , a leading provider of solutions for the delivery of advanced television and cross platform interactive services, today announced the introduction of its new Rapid Porting Program (RPP) to provide rapid, high quality ports of OpenTV middleware to a wide range of chipsets and set top boxes.

The goal of the Rapid Porting Program is to bring together the silicon vendors, set-top box (STB) manufacturers, conditional access suppliers, and systems integrators to create full-feature set-top boxes that can be brought to market quickly. By fostering the development of pre-integrated and pre- tested drivers between specific chipsets and OpenTV's Core2(TM) and PVR2(TM) solutions, the Rapid Porting Program will offer significant benefits to network operators.

According to Alan A. Guggenheim, OpenTV's President and CEO, "OpenTV's Rapid Porting Program promotes cooperation among the partners and fosters targeted sales and marketing efforts with our common customers and prospects. The benefits of RPP include bringing solutions to market faster, lowering porting costs, reducing operational expenses and achieving faster issue resolution. No one in the industry is approaching the problem in this way and the response to this new initiative by manufacturers and operators has been positive and gratifying."

The initial launch of the program is focused on efforts with chipset and set-top box manufacturer partners. The charter partners for the program include Broadcom, Conexant, and NXP Semiconductors as well as Philips Consumer Electronics. OpenTV expects other partners to join as the program advances.

"The OpenTV Rapid Porting Program will speed up the introduction of Philips new high definition (HD) set-top boxes and HD digital video recorders (DVRs) into the market," said Philippe Alcaras, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Home Networks at Philips Consumer Electronics. "This new program also delivers on Philips' brand promise of Sense and Simplicity as it will simplify the HD launch for Philips and OpenTV operators and provide high quality innovative solutions to our customers."

"OpenTV's Rapid Porting Program will enable us to meet our customers' desire for fully integrated hardware and software solutions that allow them to accelerate the delivery of complete products based on our advanced HD-AVC SoCs," said Lewis Brewster, senior vice president and general manager of Conexant's Broadband Media Processing business. "We're pleased to be one of the first chipset vendors to support this program, and providing our customers with even greater levels of service and support."

"With its advanced set-top box solutions, NXP Semiconductors is powering developments in the CE market. Our technology allows STB makers to deliver premier products to the market more quickly and at mass market price points. By partnering with OpenTV, NXP can continue to provide revolutionary offerings to the operator market-complete system solutions that boast both state-of-the-art hard and middleware," said Guus Frericks, VP and General Manager, NXP Semiconductors, Business Line Set-Top-Box and Home Media Devices.

"OpenTV's rapid porting program is an ideal way for Broadcom and OpenTV to enable our customers and minimize time-to-market across the industry's widest array of high-performance HD and SD AVC/VC-1 set-top platforms that we each offer," said John H. Gleiter, Senior Director of Marketing for Broadcom's set- top box platforms. "We are excited about working closely with OpenTV and offering this combined solution to the marketplace."

About OpenTV

OpenTV is one of the world's leading providers of solutions for the delivery of digital and interactive television. The company's software has been integrated in over 88 million digital set-top boxes and digital televisions around the world. The software enables enhanced program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive shopping, interactive and addressable advertising, games and gaming and a variety of consumer care and communication applications. For more information, please visit http://www.opentv.com/.

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG) is a global leader in healthcare, lifestyle and technology, delivering products, services and solutions through the brand promise of "sense and simplicity". Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 121,700 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 27 billion in 2006, the company is a market leader in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring systems, energy efficient lighting solutions, personal care and home appliances, as well as consumer electronics. News from Philips is located at http://www.philips.com/newscenter.

About Conexant

Conexant's innovative semiconductor solutions are driving broadband communications and digital home networks worldwide. The company has leveraged its expertise and leadership position in modem technologies to enable more Internet connections than all of its competitors combined, and continues to develop highly integrated silicon solutions for broadband data and media processing networks. Key products include client-side xDSL and cable modem solutions, home network processors, broadcast video encoders and decoders, digital set-top box components and systems solutions, and dial-up modems. Conexant's suite of networking components includes a leadership portfolio of IEEE 802.11-compliant WLAN chipsets, software and reference designs, as well as solutions for applications based on HomePlug(R) and HomePNA(TM). The company also offers a complete line of asymmetric and symmetric DSL central office solutions, which are used by service providers worldwide to deliver broadband data, voice, and video over copper telephone lines.

Conexant is a fabless semiconductor company that recorded revenues of $970.8 million in fiscal year 2006. The company has approximately 3,200 employees worldwide, and is headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif. To learn more, please visit http://www.conexant.com/.

About NXP

NXP is a top 10 semiconductor company founded by Philips more than 50 years ago. Headquartered in Europe, the company has 37,000 employees working in 26 countries across the world. NXP creates semiconductors, system solutions and software that deliver better sensory experiences in mobile phones, personal media players, TVs, set-top boxes, identification applications, cars and a wide range of other electronic devices. News from NXP is located at http://www.nxp.com/.

About Broadcom

Broadcom Corporation is a major technology innovator and global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications. Broadcom products enable the delivery of voice, video, data and multimedia to and throughout the home, the office and the mobile environment. We provide the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art, system-on-a-chip and software solutions to manufacturers of computing and networking equipment, digital entertainment and broadband access products, and mobile devices. These solutions support our core mission: Connecting everything(R).

Broadcom is one of the world's largest fabless semiconductor companies, with 2006 revenue of $3.67 billion, and holds over 2,000 U.S. and 800 foreign patents, more than 6,000 additional pending patent applications, and one of the broadest intellectual property portfolios addressing both wired and wireless transmission of voice, video and data.

Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and has offices and research facilities in North America, Asia and Europe. Broadcom may be contacted at +1.949.926.5000 or at http://www.broadcom.com/.

Ground-Breaking Study Reveals Online Retail Sites Are More Impactful With Video

2007-06-21T04:24:00.000-04:00

36% Of Consumers Surveyed Validate That Video Reviews Enhance Other Forms Of Product Information

ExpoTV’s Videopinions Reviews, A New, More Useful and Trusted Form of User-Generated Content, Poised to Reinvent and Complement Traditional Research Tools

NEW YORK CITY - More than one in three Internet users would find their number one method of product research more impactful if accompanied by video-based product opinions, according to a new study that has the potential to significantly impact the $130 billion e-commerce marketplace.

In ground-breaking research commissioned by ExpoTV, Socratic Technologies, a San Francisco-based research firm, found that when compared with their number one preferred method of researching products and services, 36% found VideopinionsSM reviews more influential.

"We knew from day one that video was the future of word-of-mouth," said Daphne Kwon, CEO of ExpoTV. "Consumer-generated video product reviews combine the best of all worlds by marrying the incredible power of the visual medium to convey vast amounts of information quickly with the authenticity of a word-of-mouth experience. Soon, no product research site will be complete without Videopinions Reviews."

By now it is an accepted industry and research fact that the majority of consumers value user-generated reviews and prefer sites that feature them. But the kind of honesty and true word of mouth that video product reviews provide delivers an increasingly compelling value proposition. The Socratic study shows that seven out of ten surveyed said they found Videopinions reviews an easy source of information to utilize.

"The point of the Socratic research findings isn't that Videopinions reviews will replace trusted tools currently available to consumers." said Bill Hildebolt, ExpoTV President. "Rather, it confirms both the very real appetite consumers have for product information and the incredible impact that a rich media interaction with other consumers can have on the research experience. We witness this daily through ExpoTV's content syndication with Smarter.com and Buy.com."

Research Methodology
The research was conducted by Socratic Technologies. 300 respondents with broadband connections were asked to select their preferred product research technique. Respondents were then shown a Videopinions product review. More than 1/3 of respondents confirmed that Videopinions enhanced their preferred product research tool.

About ExpoTV

Home to a fast-growing community of shopping influentials, ExpoTV's members have contributed more than 60,000 engaging and informative video-based consumer product reviews. These VideopinionsSM reviews demonstrate product benefits from a real-world consumer perspective in an easy-to-understand video format. Covering a broad range of categories including kitchen products, consumer electronics, entertainment and travel, ExpoTV's video review catalog is the largest in the world. Videopinions are distributed online and TV through ExpoTV's popular broadband Web site; via partnerships with the world's largest video portals including Yahoo! Video, AOL Video, Google Video, and YouTube; to leading e-commerce destinations like Smarter.com and Buy.com; and to 25 million digital cable homes, including subscribers to Comcast, Time Warner, and Charter. To experience ExpoTV, visit www.ExpoTV.com.

About Socratic Technologies
Socratic Technologies, Inc. is a leader in the science of computer-based and interactive research methods since 1994. Headquartered in San Francisco, it is a research-based consultancy that builds proprietary, interactive tools that accelerate and improve research methods for the study of global markets. Socratic Technologies specializes in product research for the business-to-business and consumer products sectors.

Clearwire Wins Spotlight Award

2007-06-20T22:34:00.000-04:00

Successful Inaugural Eos Awards Highlights Industry’s Best

NXTcomm 2007

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NXTcomm, the only venue where the business and technology of communications, information and entertainment meet taking place this week in Chicago, today announced Clearwire Corporation the winner of the Spotlight Award, an award signifying the “best of” the 2007 NXTcomm Eos Excellence of Achievement Awards.

Judged exclusively by members of the media, the Spotlight Award honors the exhibiting company that has developed the most promising new technology or provided the best new network services and strategic support. All 12 Eos Awards winners were considered for the Spotlight Award.

Clearwire Corporation won the Spotlight Award for its Clearwire Wireless Broadband service. It was selected as the winner for the company’s wireless high-speed Internet service that is simple, fast, portable, reliable and affordable. Customers are free from traditional landlines and cable connections by using Clearwire to connect to the Internet through licensed or secured spectrum. This is accomplished via radio signals transmitted from a tower to a small, wireless modem, which easily connects a user’s computer to the Internet. With its simple plug-and-play installation customers can be on the Internet within minutes of set up. The company’s wireless high-speed Internet service is now available in a total of 38 markets in the U.S. covering approximately 8.9 million people more than 400 municipalities across 12 states. The company also serves international markets in Ireland, Belgium and Denmark.

“Our inaugural Eos Award competition was a great success with contestants representing a broad range of categories,” said Wayne Crawford, NXTcomm Executive Director. “It’s an exciting time for the industry with so many new technologies being introduced. This award gives us an opportunity to highlight the best. We look forward to continuing this tradition at next year’s show.”

Eos Award winners were honored for best new technology or enterprise solution in twelve categories covering the entire range of wireless, broadband, and next-generation technologies and services for both public and enterprise networks. The winners and finalists will be recognized during a special reception on Wednesday, June 20.

NXTcomm, being held this week at Chicago’s McCormick Place, brings together top executives from every segment of the global industry to exhibit, explore new business opportunities and buy the latest technologies driving the converged communications and entertainment industry. Showcasing hundreds of new and innovative products, the NXTcomm exhibit floor reflects the dramatic changes in the industry. The show also features a broad range of educational programming.

NXTcomm, the new industry venue co-owned by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and the United States Telecom Association (USTelecom) that will feature the business and technology of communications, information and entertainment, comes to Chicago’s McCormick Place June 18-21, 2007. NXTcomm will unite the premier information and communications technology (ICT) industry supplier and technology companies with the world’s leading communications and entertainment companies that are together driving broadband-based innovation around the world. For more information, go to http://www.NXTcommShow.com/.

Microsoft's new IPTV brand: Mediaroom

2007-06-19T10:44:00.000-04:00

Microsoft has re-branded its IPTV offerings once again: Mediaroom is the fourth brand after WebTV, Microsoft TV and the recent Microsoft IPTV. Analysts say the new branding is a sign that Redmond does not want to go unnoticed by consumers any longer, and is perhaps looking to take its IPTV offerings outside the "walled garden" approach of set-top boxes and telcos. While the company's plans for Mediaroom have not been specifically laid out, one can infer from Microsoft's executives that a slightly different approach is forthcoming.

Corporate VP for Microsoft TV Division, Enrique Rodriguez said that "there are several reasons why we felt a new brand is instrumental to our success and the success of our customers. With personal media sharing and new Web-based applications, Microsoft brings the consumer television experience to a new level that goes beyond the TV set. With Microsoft Mediaroom, consumers get the best in TV plus all their media in one place, for a truly personalized multimedia experience. With the capability for more connected entertainment experiences, we felt the time was right to introduce a brand that reflected this next generation of television."

Microsoft spokesperson Jim Brady also mentioned to ScreenPlays magazine that the new Mediaroom delivery model uses XHTML on the client side, one reason for the browser-oriented model was to open up the platform to the applications market for IPTV to developers. "Some new apps will be driven by passions and social networking and recommendation. We just don't know what's going to happen," Brady said.

Interestingly, neither Microsoft nor its longtime IPTV partner Alcatel joined the recently formed Open IPTV Forum, which counts AT&T as its most prominent U.S.-based member.

A Wider Area for Wide-Area Data Services

2007-06-18T10:56:00.000-04:00

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:RVBD), the performance leader in wide-area data services (WDS), announced June 14, 2007 the expansion of global operations to Central Europe. The Riverbed Central Europe offices, located in Zurich, will be headed by Gerard Bauer, managing director for Central Europe at Riverbed®. Riverbed’s expanded presence in these markets is in response to growing recognition by distributed organizations of the importance of accelerated application performance.

“The Central European market is characterized by multi-national organizations. With branches and remote offices located worldwide and 24-hour operations, these organizations require remote office application performance that Riverbed and its award-winning Steelhead® appliances can provide,” says Bauer. “With the opening of Riverbed’s office in Zurich, we are now better able to serve our Central European customers and partners.”

Riverbed’s WDS solutions allow remote employees to collaborate as if they were local and reduce the delay and inefficiencies created by distance and time. Today, more than 2000 organizations worldwide have selected Riverbed and deployed the company’s Steelhead® appliances at sites ranging from oil rigs in the South China Seas and submarines in the Atlantic to remote offices and headquarters sites in Vladivostok, Osaka, Seoul, London and New York City. Riverbed recently released the 4.0 version of its Riverbed Optimization System (RiOS™), which is the first WDS solution to securely accelerate encrypted data transmitted via SSL without breaking the trust model.

“Centralized IT infrastructure for global operations is becoming more and more important,” said Marcus Chambers, vice president for EMEA at Riverbed. “But without a powerful and reliable WDS solution, this is very difficult to accomplish while ensuring that employees located across the country or on the other side of the world get the performance they need for their important business applications. As a result, many companies are turning to solutions from Riverbed.”

About Riverbed’s Steelhead Appliances

Riverbed’s WDS solutions enable organizations with more than one office to overcome a host of severe problems, including poor application performance and insufficient bandwidth at remote sites. By speeding the performance of applications between distributed sites by five to 50 times and in some cases up to 100 times between enterprise datacenters and remote offices, Riverbed’s award-winning Steelhead WDS appliances enable companies to consolidate IT, improve backup and replication processes to ensure data integrity, and improve staff productivity and collaboration. Steelhead appliances have been deployed in organizations ranging from the world’s largest corporations with offices around the globe to small companies with a couple of sites that are just miles apart. To learn more, view Riverbed’s demo: www.riverbed.com/pr/jack.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the expected demand for Riverbed’s products and services, and statements relating to Riverbed’s ability to meet the needs of distributed organizations and grow its business in Central Europe. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they do not fully materialize or prove incorrect, could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include our ability to react to trends and challenges in our business and the markets in which we operate; our ability to anticipate market needs or develop new or enhanced products to meet those needs; the adoption rate of our products; our ability to establish and maintain successful relationships with our distribution partners; our ability to compete in our industry; fluctuations in demand, sales cycles and prices for our products and services; shortages or price fluctuations in our supply chain; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; general political, economic and market conditions and events; and other risks and uncertainties described more fully in our documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. More information about these and other risks that may impact Riverbed’s business are set forth in our Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on April 27, 2007. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

About Riverbed

Riverbed Technology is the performance leader in wide-area data services (WDS) solutions for companies worldwide. By enabling application performance over the wide area network (WAN) that is orders of magnitude faster than what users experience today, Riverbed is changing the way people work, and enabling a distributed workforce that can collaborate as if they were local. Additional information about Riverbed (Nasdaq:RVBD) is available at www.riverbed.com.

Riverbed Technology, Riverbed, Steelhead, RiOS, Interceptor, and the Riverbed logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Riverbed Technology, Inc. All other trademarks used or mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.

Amazon Grocery Beta

2007-06-13T08:11:00.000-04:00

More than 22,000 non-perishable items--and growing every day

All items eligible for free shipping

Great everyday prices on your favorite brands

Shipped to your door, just like any other Amazon.com purchase

Learn more

THE CENTURY OF THE SELF

2007-06-12T17:12:00.000-04:00

Ads confirm Apple iPhone 6/29 sale date

2007-06-03T21:18:00.001-04:00

NEW YORK -- Apple Inc.'s highly anticipated iPhone will be available June 29, according to TV commercials broadcast Sunday night and posted on the company's Web site.

The combination cell phone, media player and wireless Web-surfing device will retail for $499 and $599, depending on configuration. It will be offered exclusively by AT&T Inc.'s wireless division, formerly known as Cingular.

The iPhone, which sports no keypad but instead a touch-sensitive screen, was unveiled with great fanfare in early January by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. He said it would appear in stores in June but gave no specific date.

Sunday night's ads showed off several of the gadget's features and ended with the pronouncement that the phone will be available "Only on the new AT&T" and "Coming June 29." One aired on the CW network before a 7 p.m. broadcast of "7th Heaven."

Apple and AT&T spokespeople did not immediately return phone calls.

In recent months, the company's stock has been served by speculation and excitement over the iPhone. Shares of Apple's stock rose May 25 after a media report said that the iPhone would go on sale June 20. Neither AT&T nor Apple would confirm or deny that date at the time.

Forrester: No Future For Paid Video Downloads

2007-05-14T14:29:00.000-04:00

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The paid video download market is a dead end, according to a new report by Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR). Forrester estimates that paid video downloads will peak in 2007, generating $279 million in revenue, up from $98 million last year. Instead, advertising models will drive the online video market.

In the past year, companies such as Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Wal-Mart have begun offering consumers the ability to download television programs and movies to own or rent. But a recent Forrester survey showed that only nine percent of online adults have ever paid to download a movie or TV show. Furthermore, an analysis of these consumers showed they are a niche of media junkies willing to spend heavily on such content; they do not represent the vanguard of a rush by mainstream consumers. Without mainstream viewers joining the party, the video download market will not grow fast enough to support the ambitions of all the companies involved.

“The paid video download market in its current evolutionary state will soon become extinct, despite the fast growth and the millions being spent today,” said Forrester Research Principal Analyst James McQuivey. “Television and cable networks will shift the bulk of paid downloading to ad-supported streams where they have control of ads and effective audience measurement. The movie studios, whose content only makes up a fraction of today’s paid downloads, will put their weight behind subscription models that imitate premium cable channel services.”

Other implications of such a market shift include:

Set-top boxes give in to Internet video. Apple will have to rethink Apple TV, shifting it from a closed pay-per-view system to an ad-supported, broadband service provider model that puts YouTube videos as well as ABC.com TV shows directly on the TV. At the same time, Internet-friendly set-top boxes from Cisco and Motorola will give Comcast and Time Warner a way to offer competing Internet-based, ad-supported content.
Television networks allow ad-supported downloads of prime-time TV shows. New technology such as the recently announced Adobe Media Player will allow consumers to download video for playback without losing the ads that were sold with the video. Expect ABC to go first in 2008, with other networks quickly following.
Paid video download pioneers CinemaNow and Movielink shift their expertise to partner with satellite and telco service providers provide video-on-demand (VOD) content without a huge investment in VOD infrastructure.
Streaming of ad-supported TV shows eclipses DVR use by the end of 2008. Advertisers will cheer because this shift thwarts ad-skipping; consumers will applaud this breakthrough because it’s cheaper than a DVR and is more flexible.

“To attract mainstream viewers, media strategy executives must develop new business models and delivery mechanisms to make video downloading ad-supported and geek-free,” says McQuivey.

The report “Paid Video Downloads Give Way To Ad Models” includes recommendations for media executives and is currently available to Forrester RoleView™ clients. It can also be purchased directly at www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,42291,00.html

About Forrester Research

Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) is an independent technology and market research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology. For more than 23 years, Forrester has been making leaders successful every day through its proprietary research, consulting, events, and peer-to-peer executive programs.

Joost goes live with advertisers

2007-05-08T20:20:00.000-04:00

Joost, the online video site developed by the makers of Skype and Kazaa, went live last week with 31 advertisers and programming from Viacom, CBS and others. Joost has been in beta for months, which meant existing users could invite a limited number of people to join. Now that the site is out of beta, existing users have unlimited invites. Joost claims to have 100 employees across Europe and the U.S., and says it's working with 20 media and brand advertising companies to develop marketing campaigns for its clients. Some of its advertisers include IBM, GM, L'Oreal, Warner Bros., Nokia and Vodafone.

Elizabeth Murdoch considers television in 2015

2007-05-04T12:50:00.000-04:00

Television executive Elizabeth Murdoch looks forward to a world of video-on-demand and downloadable programmes that will enable independent producers to compete with broadcasters by offering programmes direct to consumers.

You only need to look back at futurologists’ predictions from five years ago to realise that no one understood the true revolution in mobile technology or the uptake of broadband.

Ten years from now, we will have a decade of programme libraries which will never have been more valuable and we will have a much lower cost of entry to international distribution of our own product.

To read more

First WiMax laptop card approved by FCC, Clearwire says

2007-05-02T14:15:00.000-04:00

U.S. regulators have approved the first WiMax wireless broadband laptop PC card to be offered by Clearwire Corp., and it should be available to users later this year, the company said.

The Federal Communications Commission approved a WiMax laptop PC card that fits into a standard Type II laptop card slot and can be used with the Windows Vista and XP operating systems, Clearwire said in a statement yesterday. The card works on Clearwire's WiMax network, which has been built with Motorola Inc. wi4 Expedience wireless networking equipment.

Approval of the high performance WiMax card should propel the use of WiMax by broadening the potential base of customers, Clearwire said.

Laptop PC users were instrumental in increasing the popularity of Wi-Fi, which supporter hope WiMax would replace with its speedier wireless Internet service and wider ranging access. Wi-Fi became popular because it freed people from sitting at home connected to the Internet by wire, and instead allowed them to sip coffee at Starbucks while reading e-mails wirelessly on their laptop PCs.

Clearwire, of Kirkland, Wash., expects the WiMax laptop PC cards to be available in the second half of this year. The company currently offers broadband wireless services in the U.S. and Europe. Its subscribers rose to 206,000 as of the end of last year, from just 1,000 on Sep. 30, 2004, it said when it filed to list on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC in February. Its subscriber base has grown despite wireline alternatives for users, including broadband cable modems and DSL (digital subscriber line) Internet service.

At the end of last year, Clearwire services were available to 9.6 million people, including 8.6 million throughout the U.S., and 1 million in Brussels, Belgium, and Dublin, Ireland, the company said.

WiMax base stations can send broadband Internet signals to far greater distances than Wi-Fi technology. Although estimates vary on how far WiMax signals can go, in densely populated cities, where users are not likely to be positioned within sight of access points, the distance should be between 2 km and 4 km (1.2 to 2.4 miles).

Well Done Sir Tom

2007-05-01T16:47:00.000-04:00

TYCOON Sir Tom Hunter yesterday told of the responsibilities that go with becoming Scotland's first home-grown billionaire.

With an estimated fortune of £1.05billion, he has been named the wealthiest person in Scotland and joint 60th in the UK in this year's rich list.

Ayrshire-based Hunter, 45, sold his Sports Division chain to JJB Sports for £290million. He now devotes much of his time to charity work.

He said: "With great wealth comes great responsibility.

"I've been lucky enough that my first business made money through people in Scotland buying the trainers and so on that I was selling.

"It's only right, therefore, that we would want to give something back."

His Hunter Foundation and the Clinton-Hunter Development Initiative, formed with former US president Bill Clinton, made recent donations of almost £30million.

Last month, Hunter's property consortium took over housebuilders Crest Nicholson for £715million.

It followed the £311million takeover of Wyevale Garden Centres and £1.1billion paid for retirement home firm McCarthy and Stone.

Other Scots high on the rich list include Rangers supremo Sir David Murray (£750million) and Harry Potter author JK Rowling (£545million). The UK's richest person is steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who is worth £19.25billion.

2006 Canadian Online Advertising Tops $1 Billion

2007-04-30T08:13:00.000-04:00

Online Ad Revenue Surges Forward As Variety Of Factors Combine for Growth

TORONTO, April 30, 2007 - The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB) today announced that 2006 Canadian Online Advertising Revenues surged to an unprecedented $1.01 billion dollars for the year. The 2006 actuals represent a 26% increase over the $801 million originally estimated by the IAB for 2006; and an 80% increase over the 2005 actuals of $562 million.

Of the $1.01 billion, approximately $208 million or 21% of ad dollars were allocated to the French Canadian Online market, representing growth of 68% over the 2005 actuals of $124 million.

2006 Canadian Online Ad Revenue by Advertising Vehicle, was as follows:

Display advertising (including banner CPM and direct response advertising, plus contests, sponsorship and microsites) - 36%;
Search advertising - 35%;
Classifieds/Directories - 27%; and,
Email - 2%

In actual millions of dollars, 2006 vs. 2005 Canadian Online Ad Revenue by Advertising Vehicle, was as follows:
2006 2005 Change
Display $364M $230M +58%
Search $353M $197M +79%
Classifieds $273M $124M +120%
Email $20M $11M +82%

2006 Canadian Online Ad Revenue by Advertiser Category was also tabulated, and was as follows:

Automotive - 16%;
Consumer Packaged Goods - 14%;
Entertainment (Music, Film, TV) - 9%;
Financial - 16%;
Leisure (Travel, Hotel, Hospitality) - 14%;
Retail - 16%; and,
Other - 15%
What accounts for the 80% jump in 2006 vs. 2005 revenue figures? IAB Canada and Ernst & Young LLP (who tabulated results from the double-blind survey), cite a number of critical factors leading to the increase, including:

Substantial Revenue Growth Across All Publishers:

Small and Medium publishers (who typically net between $500k to $5M/yr.) showed an average revenue growth of 85% vs. 2005;
Large publishers (who typically net between $5M to $30M/yr.) showed an average revenue growth of 155% vs. 2005; and,
Very Large publishers (who typically net between $30M to $100M/yr.) showed an average revenue growth of 62% vs. 2005.

Revenue Growth Within Online Ad Networks:
2006 saw substantial growth in revenue for both US and Canadian networks selling "Canadian eyeballs" aggregated across U.S. and Canadian sites.

More Integration, New Advertisers, New Advertising Choices and New Ad Formats:
More integrated campaigns; more new, blue-chip advertisers entering the market for the first time; more advertising choices for Search; uptake of rich media; and, the addition of video pre-roll advertising to the selection of Online advertising tools, all helped drive the industry forward.
"Add to all of this, results from the 7 CMOST (cross-media optimization) research studies that the IAB has undertaken over the past 4 years, plus the fact that in the past two years alone, over 1,000 senior-level advertiser, agency and publisher representatives have taken the IAB's Intensive One-Day Course in Interactive Marketing and Online Advertising -- and you get a sort of 'perfect storm' that was able to move the Canadian Online advertising dial forward to such an extent," says Paula Gignac, President of IAB Canada.

And there's still more growth to come. IAB Canada's projected total for 2007 Online advertising in Canada, is estimated to be $1.337 billion -- a full 32% more than the 2006 actual of $1.01 billion. "It's interesting," says Gignac. "While it took us 13 years from when the first banner was served on the Internet, until now, to reach the billion dollar mark in Canada, it may only take us another two to three years to reach the second billion. Fascinating times indeed."

About the IAB Canada 2006-07 Canadian Internet Advertising Revenue Report
The 2006 actual revenues and the 2007 estimated revenues were reached after a comprehensive survey of all major Online publishers in Canada. Revenue data was compiled and analyzed by Ernst & Young LLP.

For more information about the IAB Canada 2006-07 Canadian Internet Advertising Revenue Report visit iabcanada.com.

ExpoTV Relaunch their Site

2007-04-28T03:25:00.000-04:00

The super-charged ExpoTV is here!

With the help of our passionate members, we burned the midnight oil to bring you an experience that truly celebrates the community. Now with great new Videopinions reviews served up fresh daily! We hope the new ExpoTV helps make everyone Shop Smarter - and for all you creators, make some money while you're at it!

The site definitely has a new look and feel. Plus, we've added the following features to make the Expo experience useful and loads of fun:

Tons of additional product information and buying resources

More ways to communicate with members

Member badges to celebrate your success

The ability to embed videos on personal web pages

And a new, easier video upload process

Member Profiles -- One of the Coolest New Features!
Now you can select an image that matches your shopping style. It's all in the brand new Member Profile page. Be sure to update your's so everyone will know whether you're a "speedster" or a "gear head".

ExpoTV started it now it's happening on eBay

2007-04-25T13:44:00.000-04:00

Things are really starting to move at eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY). You probably figured as much, considering that the company's namesake site helped move $14.3 billion in merchandise this past quarter. However, I'm talking about a different kind of motion -- motion pictures.

An entry in eBay's corporate blog last week indicated that the site is now encouraging sellers to link to videos that showcase their wares. Auctioneers can only go through five of the biggest video-sharing sites -- Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Google's YouTube, News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace, Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Soapbox, or AOL -- but it's an interesting strategy.

Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) isn't on the list. The search-engine giant has been a strategic partner with eBay for nearly a year now. Even if many of the clips available through Yahoo! are actually hosted on smaller third-party sites, it's a slap in the face to ignore a business partner that also runs one of the more popular video-sharing sites.

Still, it could be a revolutionary step for the site. The ability to see items in action -- assuming that the seller has the time to make a clip in the first place -- is far better than text descriptions and the occasional snapshot or two.

However, like any true revolution, this isn't a battle that can be won overnight.

Hitting the pause button
eBay thought this through. It contacted a few eBay members who were handy with camcorders, webcams, and video-editing software packages to showcase six different items on the site. OK, so maybe eBay fibbed as to how dedicated these aspiring filmmakers are to the eBay cause -- half of the listings are from sellers who have zero feedback.

However, you can follow the blog entry to check out the six listings. Some of them are pretty amusing, like the guy trying to sell his acoustic guitar in a highly unorthodox way. He strums along as he brushes his teeth on the guitar neck, makes out with the tuning keys, and even plays a few chords while he's on the toilet. Other ads feature stop-motion prowess in pitching a bike, Lego figures, and a 1996 Saturn.

The clips are slick, as expected. The members all chose to host their videos on YouTube, a good move since it may bring in auction-listing traffic through folks who stumble on the videos first.

But there's a rub, my friend. The six auctions have been running for nearly a week, set to end between today and Thursday. Despite eBay's promotion and the viral allure of some of the clips, the bidding battles just aren't taking place. Let's check into the six auctions, as of last night.

The humiliated Martin acoustic guitar has just the opening $800 bid.
The 1996 Saturn, star of its slick stop-action clip, hasn't received a single offer despite its reasonable $999 opening bid.
A copy-room stapler with a compelling back story has been bid up to only $11.
The vintage Lego figures have had enough activity to take the bidding up to $45, but the listing's reserve price has not been reached.
A loaded Apple G4 is fetching just $84.50.
A Surly Steamroller track bike has failed to nab its $300 start price, perhaps because the Brooklyn-housed bicycle must be picked up locally.

Thinking outside the screening room
Encouraging clips to promote eBay auctions may be a new strategy at eBay, but it isn't an original move. Intuitive YouTube users are already using video to direct traffic to their listings.

Val's Art Diary, the woman behind it is an oil painter who works her craft on canvas, documenting the artistic process with a camcorder along the way. She then auctions off the paintings on eBay. The promotional video diary clips are available through Apple's iTunes and her own website, but it was only after she was featured on YouTube that her cottage industry really took off.

The entrepreneurial spirit is starting to creep into the seemingly noncommercial YouTube site. Someone who was featured after demonstrating a self-stirring coffee mug quickly edited the video description to include a commissionable link to where the mug can be purchased.

Most people don't see YouTube that way. The legitimate video resumes aren't getting the kind of page views that the ridiculous, over-the-top ones are garnering. Clips of cars for sale will never draw in users the way fender-benders do. That's just human nature, but I still think that more and more people will begin tapping into the free multimedia promotion that is available through sites like YouTube.

What is getting in the way right now? A big factor may be a lack of education when it comes to shooting and editing videos. The learning curve isn't all that steep. A Windows-powered PC has the free Movie Maker editing application, and Apple users have access to even better editing software packages.

For investors, this trend will open up portfolio opportunities. Stocks like Logitech (Nasdaq: LOGI) and Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) that will thrive in a video-friendly future. Logitech is the webcam leader, while Adobe is the star of publishing software, as well as the company behind the Flash platform that the leading video-sharing sites use.

Will eBay buy ExpoTV?

Amazon profit doubles on 32% rise in sales

2007-04-24T21:41:00.000-04:00

Shares jump in after-hours as results beat Wall Street's estimates

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Amazon.com Inc., the world's largest Internet retailer, late Tuesday reported that first-quarter profit more than doubled and sales jumped 32% as the Seattle-based company sold more goods through its Web site.

For the quarter ended March 31, Amazon (AMZN :

Amazon.com, Inc

News , chart , profile , more

Last: 44.75-0.02-0.04%
8:00pm 04/24/2007
Delayed quote data

AMZN44.75, -0.02, 0.0% ) reported a profit of $111 million, or 26 cents a share, compared to the $51 million or 12 cents a share a year ago.

Sales rose 32% to $3 billion, compared to the $2.28 billion from a year ago.

Wall Street was expecting earnings of 15 cents a share on sales of $2.92 billion, according to consensus estimates from Thomson Financial.

Shares of Amazon rose 12% in late trading to $50.05. The stock has risen about 20% since the company last reported quarterly results.

Amazon benefited mainly from a 5% surge in traffic to its retailing sites, which during its first quarter grew at a rate second only to eBay Inc.

EBAY33.76, +0.24, +0.7% ) in the electronic-commerce sector, according to an analysis from Bear Stearns.

More traffic translated into more purchases, according to Nielsen//NetRatings, which on Tuesday said the number of items purchased on Amazon jumped 12% from the same period last year, to 23.1 million from 20.6 million.

The results also got a boost by stronger sales of electronics, which jumped 48% to around $947 million, and increased to 31% of worldwide sales, compared to 28% a year ago.

Sales outside the United States jumped by 35% to $1.4 billion, while domestic sales grew 30% to $1.62 billion.

Amazon.com Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos said, in a statement, that the results were also boosted by growing traction for Amazon Prime, which is the company's first-subscription based feature that offers lower shipping rates, and easier checkout.

A jump in interest income also benefited Amazon's bottom line.

One of the most watch Amazon metric its margins, which is a measure of how much it profits from the sale of an item.

According to Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney, Amazon's operating margin for the quarter was 5.9%, which is "materially higher" that what Wall Street expected and the result of a more positive contribution from Amazon.com's international sales.

"This marked the first quarter of year-on-year margin expansion since the second quarter of 2004," Mahaney said, in a note to clients. He rates Amazon as a sell.

Goldman Sachs analyst Anthony Noto, also commenting about margins, called the results the "first clear positive for the shares." He rates Amazon shares as "neutral."

Amazon also tried to soothe investor concerns about Amazon's capital spending, which has helped to contribute to the company's relatively high margins.

In a conference call following the earnings release, Bezos said capital spending is sure to increase in 2007, as Amazon invests in new features such as its Unbox video store, but at a rate far less than last year.

"As we move forward, certainly still working very hard for further cost improvements," Bezos said, on the conference call.

The company also somewhat tightened its guidance for its second quarter, now projecting revenue in the range of $2.7 billion to $2.85 billion. The company previously had projected revenue in the range of $2.8 billion to $3 billion.

Analysts, meanwhile, had been expecting revenue of $2.69 billion for the second quarter.

The revenue forecast represents growing sales from its aggressive pricing and promotions, and tempered by a postal-rate increase to go into effect in May.

For the year, Amazon said it expects sales of $13.4 billion to $14 billion, representing an annual growth rate of between 25% and 31%. The range is slightly higher than the $13.37 billion predicted by analysts.

Amazon also increased its operating income projection for the year to between $463 million and $593 million. The operating income projection includes about $170 million in what Amazon describes as amortization of intangible assets.

The company said previously that operating income would come in be between $355 million and $505 million, or ranging from a decline of 9% to a gain of around 30% growth.

Amazon also said Tuesday that its board had approved a $500 million share buyback, which will take place over the next two years.

"The $500 million in buybacks should be an additional positive for the shares," said Goldman Sachs' Noto.